Fake memoirs, author mills, and celebrity inspired book clubs are nothing new—there used to be a running gag in our medieval literature classes about John Mandeville’s ‘Travels’; there are so many different sources, perspectives, and entire books masquerading as this single titled memoir (Moseley 1974), it’s a joy to read the absurdity that went on under one name. The ‘Travels of John Mandeville’ were read when reading was a communal activity and not a silent, solitary act. We might even approximate an evening’s read to an informal book club experience.
The research that goes on concerning the subject now is much more discerning about the different perspectives about foreign nations, the methods of travel and glimpses of material culture—not to mention views on religion and contemporary politics—in order to gain an idea of what kind of a story captivated a great number of people during a certain period of time.
In other words: the fact that these stories sell even when we know they are false (or at the very least, sensationalized) should tell us more about ourselves and the state of our culture than it does the people who wrote (or did not write) them. And hopefully, some curious or angry person will be spurred on to find out what the truth really is/was.
C. W. R. D. Moseley. (1974). The Metamorphoses of Sir John Mandeville. The Yearbook of English Studies, 4, 5-25. doi:10.2307/3506677
Great insight! Your closer hits the nail on the head! Full points!
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