My Lie

Beschreibung

Meredith Maran lived a daughter's nightmare: she accused herfather of sexual abuse, then realized, nearly too late, that he wasinnocent. During the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Americansbecame convinced that they had repressed memories of childhoodsexual abuse, and then, decades later, recovered those memories intherapy. Journalist, mother, and daughter Meredith Maran was one of them.Her accusation and estrangement from her father caused her sons togrow up without their only grandfather, divided her family intothose who believed her and those who didn't, and led her to isolateherself on "Planet Incest," where "survivors" devoted their lives,and life savings, to recovering memories of events that had neveroccurred. Maran unveils her family's devastation and ultimate redemptionagainst the backdrop of the sex-abuse scandals, beginning with theinfamous McMartin preschool trial, that sent hundreds of innocentsto jail--several of whom remain imprisoned today. Exploring the psychological, cultural, and neuroscientificcauses of this modern American witch-hunt, My Lie asks: howcould so many people come to believe the same lie at the same time?What has neuroscience discovered about the brain's capacity tocreate false memories and encode false beliefs? What are the "biglies" gaining traction in American culture today--and how canwe keep them from taking hold? My Lie is a wrenchingly honest, unexpectedly witty, andprofoundly human story that proves the personal is indeedpolitical--and the political can become painfullypersonal.

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Meredith Maran

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Cultural Studies Gender Studies Geschlechterforschung Kulturwissenschaften

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"In this terrifying, haunting, and controversial memoir,award-winning journalist Meredith Maran delves into the fascinatingsubject of the recovered memory movement.... Maran's not justshockingly honest, she's also funny. Her refusal to whitewash herown behavior, her fierce ability to expose all sides of the issue(she doesn't deny that horrific abuse does occur and should bepunished), and her compassion for the abused as well as those stillfalsely imprisoned as abusers opens up a dialogue about memory,belief, and past- and present-day culture that is as riveting as itis important." (Boston Globe, September 21, 2010) "Maran's story is so tension-filled that I want to keep some ofthe twists out of this review, allowing readers of this remarkablebook to discover them apart from me." (San FranciscoChronicle, September 19, 2010)Only a writer as fierce and incisive as Meredith Maran could havewritten a book as intimate, dark, bracing and revelatory as MyLie. --MICHAEL CHABON, author of Manhood forAmateurs; and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier &Clay Meredith Maran is a wonderful journalist and storyteller,profoundly honest, direct, witty, savvy and compassionate. --ANNE LAMOTT, author of Grace (Eventually) andBird By Bird My Lie is the brave and riveting "inside story" of themost devastating mental health controversy of the century. Icouldn't put it down. --ELIZABETH F. LOFTUS, PHD, co-author of Witness forthe Defense and The Myth of Repressed Memory To admit sin is hard. To own a grave sin committed against aloved one is more difficult still. To be able to write about itwith honesty and grace is extraordinary. My Lie by MeredithMaran tells a story no reader will--orshould--forget. --KATHRYN HARRISON, author of The Kiss andThe Mother Knot Meredith Maran is fearless, and My Lie is a shockinglyhonest, stunningly nuanced book. Every parent, and everyone who hasa parent, should read this searing father-daughter story. --AYELET WALDMAN, author of Bad Mother andLove and Other Impossible Pursuits "This marvelous, searing book held me in its thrall from themoment I read the Prologue, and never let go. Meredith Maran haswritten a page-turner of a memoir, at once brave and heartbreaking.Who among us hasn't questioned her own memory? In navigating herfamily history, Maran becomes a detective, and MY LIE reads like amystery all the more suspenseful because the writer has taken greatcare to tell the truth." --DANI SHAPIRO, author of Devotion: A Memoir
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