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A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

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Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#71

Post by watwut »

bambax wrote: post #51

This is the end of TFA: > Emerson sees Sparks chiefly as an impostor, but she comes across as a true believer, both in evil and in her capacity to combat it by scaring teen-agers straight. Imposter vs. True Believer: evil schemer or naive righteous soccer mom... Mmm... Or maybe she was... an artist?! I find it quite shocking and incredible that still today, she's casually dismissed as a fabricator. Every fiction is a…

> Every fiction is a fabrication.

There is obvious difference between selling fabrications as fiction and selling fabrications as your real world experiences. The decision to mark it as such is not irrelevant and is not something you can blame purely on publishers.

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#72

Post by ciphol »

tomrod wrote: post #28
bugzz wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be Mormon, I think Mormon culture is the main reason. This article seems to describe the reasons well: https://religionnews.com/2017/06/20/10-reasons-mormons-domin...

Likewise. All negative or positive aspects of the religion aside, the geographical aspect to Mormon congregations build affinity networks quickly. This is both an asset (it can integrate you into a community quickly) while also being a liability (more MLM and Ponzi schemes). I learned this weekend this geographic designation for local congregations is shared among the Amish, where congregation (to my understanding an…

Do the Amish, or Hasidic Jews or whoever, have lots of MLMs and Ponzi schemes?

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#73

Post by watwut »

pyuser583 wrote: post #57
thenerdhead wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived in Utah. There’s plenty of MLMs and Ponzi schemes due to the religious culture. Oils, beauty products, blankets, weight loss solutions, workout pants, you name it. There are many stay at home mothers who get involved in these schemes to make a few dollars here and there. They end up buying plenty of product up front and not being able to sell it. Hope that helps.

Sorry to bicker, but MLMs and Ponzi schemes are really different things.

That comment does not say they are the same. It says they are both present.

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#74

Post by bloomingeek »

supportlocal4h wrote: post #55
xahrepap wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think LDS folks have a little too much trust in other LDS folk. “Brother So-in-so works for doTerra, Sister So-in-so sells it and says it cleared up her eczema. These people wouldn’t lie to me!” And so they take whatever they say as truth. I don’t think it’s what I would describe as “childish gullibility”. But too much unchecked trust in members of their circles (still gullibility. But I wouldn’t call it childish).…

I sympathize a lot with the moms you characterize as "wanting to make an easy buck." How do you put in 8 hours a day as an accountant or hair stylist or fire fighter or HR rep between morning snack, potty training, reading time, nap time, outside play time, music time, etc.? Maybe you try to get paid for raising your own kids by daycaring other kids at the same time. Is that also an easy buck? Not everybody has a k8s…

So what if a housewife/family refuse to purchase any product another housewife/family is pushing? Is there any rejection of said family? Is the whole family networking system based solely on sales? Is it considered not cooperating, from a religious stand point, not to purchase these products? Will church status be effected if purchases aren't made and a family punished?

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#75

Post by abdulhaq »

ck2 wrote: post #43
rayiner wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> even worse suppressing women and minorities Christianity and faith that everyone was created equal in the eyes of God was essential to inventing the concept of racial equality at a time when science couldn’t prove that assertion. Put yourself in 1850–looking around at societies in the world as they existed then—and make a scientific case for racial equality powerful enough to convince hundreds of thousands of free…

Quoted post unavailable.

Across the history of man the greatest mass killings of people were instigated by atheists e.g Stalin who murdered millions simply because they were Christian. Most wars are tribal fights where the religion correlates to the tribe and it has little to no effect on causing the war. You even said yourself that it does the opposite, it placates it.

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#77

Post by zasdffaa »

bambax wrote: post #51

This is the end of TFA: > Emerson sees Sparks chiefly as an impostor, but she comes across as a true believer, both in evil and in her capacity to combat it by scaring teen-agers straight. Imposter vs. True Believer: evil schemer or naive righteous soccer mom... Mmm... Or maybe she was... an artist?! I find it quite shocking and incredible that still today, she's casually dismissed as a fabricator. Every fiction is a…

> Mmm... Or maybe she was... an artist?!

Or liar. Works for me.

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#78

Post by [deleted] »

bambax wrote: post #51

This is the end of TFA: > Emerson sees Sparks chiefly as an impostor, but she comes across as a true believer, both in evil and in her capacity to combat it by scaring teen-agers straight. Imposter vs. True Believer: evil schemer or naive righteous soccer mom... Mmm... Or maybe she was... an artist?! I find it quite shocking and incredible that still today, she's casually dismissed as a fabricator. Every fiction is a…

[deleted]

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#79

Post by akiselev »

atoav wrote: post #67
bambax wrote: post #51

This is the end of TFA: > Emerson sees Sparks chiefly as an impostor, but she comes across as a true believer, both in evil and in her capacity to combat it by scaring teen-agers straight. Imposter vs. True Believer: evil schemer or naive righteous soccer mom... Mmm... Or maybe she was... an artist?! I find it quite shocking and incredible that still today, she's casually dismissed as a fabricator. Every fiction is a…

I agree with your characterization of fiction and poetry. There have been many writers who wrote fictional diaries (e.g. Max Frisch' Stiller) and other (real) diaries that entered the realm of literature (e.g. the diaries of Anne Frank). I'd say where most people would draw the line is when someone tries to sell something as autobiographic that has been clearly made up for moralist reasons, yet still lie about it's a…

I think the issue arises when a public persona is attached to the work, taking it from the realm of art to performance. I doubt most people would react the same to a fictional autobiography from a reclusive author a la J.D. Salinger like they did to authors like James Frey who went on Oprah to promote A Million Little Pieces. From the first few paragraphs of the TFA it sounds like Beatrice Sparks likewise attached the fiction to herself publicly through her lectures and self help work or whatever.

It's like designing a fake medical license in Photoshop and printing it out: it doesn't really matter to anyone unless you actually try to use it to treat people in the real world.

Re: A Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous best-seller

#80

Post by bertil »

bambax wrote: post #51

This is the end of TFA: > Emerson sees Sparks chiefly as an impostor, but she comes across as a true believer, both in evil and in her capacity to combat it by scaring teen-agers straight. Imposter vs. True Believer: evil schemer or naive righteous soccer mom... Mmm... Or maybe she was... an artist?! I find it quite shocking and incredible that still today, she's casually dismissed as a fabricator. Every fiction is a…

Art would be doing something like the Blair Witch Project, that is trying to maintain the credibility of the fiction but still has a producer listed on IMDb. This is a bad lie.
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