If someone wrote a book about you, would you want to read it?

Sure. I’d be flattered.

unless, of course, it was an untrue or unflattering portrayal

Yes, I would definitely read it. It would be really interesting to know how someone else interpreted my behaviors, my experiences, my personality, and my life.

I’m narcissistic enough to read that. Also, I try to influence people for the better by teaching outdoor activities, donating blood, answering the occasional Fluther question, etc. In almost every case, I can only assume that I’ve made an impact on people. I’d like to read just how much of an impact I have or have not made and whether it was for good or bad.

I’d like to see how the author saw me so I could contrast with how I see myself. It’d be a unique opportunity unless it was a mean spirited anti-Compassionate_Heretic bent.
I’d pass then.

of course I would! even if it wasn’t that flattering.

My answer would strongly depend on who the author was and how much they liked me.

@Dog The author is your own mother.

No, but I probably would anyway.

@casheroo I’d read that! I’m the favorite child. ;-)

Heck yeah! I forget a lot, so it would be a nice refresher.

Funny you should ask this question now (especially after you specified that the author is my mother), since I just started reading a book my mom wrote during the year we lived with her in Jerusalem. It’s amazing and mind-boggling reading her accounts of certain events and remembering how they happened in my mind. Some parts are hard to read, and I disagree with a lot of what she says (about me and about other things), but it is truly fascinating. I can’t wait til I get the chance to read more.

I’m with Dog. Depends on who wrote it.

I would read parts. Probably skip the boring chapters.

Actually I could see my sister writing a book about how I have affected her life.

yes

My Mother?
Serious?

Heck yeah I’d read it! A few pages at night, and I’d fall right to sleep. It would end up being a sensation as a cure for insomnia.

my mother wouldn’t write anything that’s true, she’s psychotic

It would depend on the title. If it was called, say, “Mr._M the Deadbeat” I might not. If, on the other hand, it was called “They Didn’t Call Me Mike the Spike for Nothing”, I.probably would,

My mom is writing a book about some parts of her life and marriages. I know for a fact I’m in it…At this point in my life I don’t feel any great need to read the parts about her sex life and relationships (although I’m sure I will one day), you bet I’m going to read the parts about me.

Yes. I am fascinating.

Yes. I think it’d really interesting.
Unless they’re a shitty writer. They’d better be a good writer if they’re writing about me.

If my old man decided to write a book about me, not only would I read it, I would demand royalties and final cut!

I think I’d burn it (and all copies of it) and change my name, lol

Yeah I think I’d definitely want my named changed.

Nah. I already know how it ends.

I’d be afraid to.

Keeping in mind the people who are still alive that know me? Sure, why not.

@ubersiren I like your answer.

That’s how I was going to respond. :)

I would be very interested in how my mentally ill mother views our lives. It wouldn’t jive with my view, that’s for sure!

o course, and that dookie will get a cookie or a kick in the rear acccordingly

I always say if my life were a sitcom I’d watch it. So I guess I’d probably read a book about me, too!

Yes, I absolutely would want to read a book about myself. Not necessarily because I want to know what the author thinks about me, but because I’d like to know as many of my different sides as I can, and other people often reveal new sides about us which we didn’t know before, because their eye catches details which are too common for ourselves to see them.

Yes, if for nothing else but curiosity, though if it were my mother who wrote said book I doubt I would play any major role in it.

@casheroo So, is this actually happening to you? If so, what are your thoughts about it? Will you read it?

@augustlan Yes. I haven’t read it yet, I told my mother I’d like to read it, and if it upset me…I’d just stop reading it. I told her she can send it to me, but she hasn’t yet. I hope I’m just getting worked up over nothing! lol

I have the diary of an ex sitting in my office. It’s about the time in her life when we were together. I read half of it several years ago when she gave it to me. I haven’t touched it since. Far too boring.

If someone was a good storyteller, and wrote about me, I’d definitely read it!

Good luck, cash… I hope it turns out to be a good read!

My curiosity would get the best of me, and I’d end up reading it whether I wanted to or not.

So, I read it. It’s a short story. She didn’t really finish it though (not like I don’t know how it ends haha) It was pretty emotional. Some of it really tore me up to read. I’m glad I read it though.

Thanks for the update. I’m glad you’re happy with the outcome.

@casheroo, did you learn anything?

@Jeruba Yes. I learned how my mother felt. It was pretty painful to read. I had always wanted to know how they felt, and now that I’m a parent..I think it made it more real for me. The thought of my child going through what I did, and reading it from the parents point of view. It was hard.

Thanks, @casheroo. I am always interested in knowing what people have learned from experiences I haven’t had. I don’t feel like I’ve understood the experience until I’ve asked that. So the painful part for her was watching you go through a difficult time? I can relate to that as a parent.

What a gift your mother gave you, not only to share her honest feelings with you but to let you see yourself from an entirely other perspective.

yes.

i would be kind of freaked out and feel like i was in that ‘stranger than fiction’ movie that i did not see.
also, oh my gosh wait. what happens if i skip to the end? i know this isn’t meant to be a mindfck but it kind of is!
i guess i’d feel obliged to read it though. if someone took the time to write it, i’d just have to get a copy…

edit: oh, my mother wrote it? oh that’s interesting.

yeah to see if there was anything bad in it about me

If my mother wrote a book about me, I would want to read it. I’m curious about what she has to say about me. We don’t talk all that much. Maybe I’d also get answers to my unanswered questions about her.

If my mother wrote a book about me (though it probably would have to be a Mills and Boon novel, that’s her fare)...I would not be in it. It would be about my other siblings and how they lived happily ever after. How did this happiness come about? Because they live near her. I moved far, far, away… I might get a mention as the wayward daughter on Page 3…I’d disappear in the Amazon jungle on Page 6 and would never be heard from again. :)

Would I read a book written by someone else that intersected with my life? Or incidents in which I was involved? No. I also will not listen to any radio shows I’ve done, or anything else that’s taped or recorded. I also hate to be photographed and literally get queasy when people pull photos of me out, “Remember when you….?” Eeek. If Richard Curtis would cast me in his sequel to “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (to be called tentaively, “Four Weddings and He’s Still Single”), I would go to the premiere and then leave through the side door as soon as the music started. (No, there is no sequel planned….and this is only in my fantasy world in which I also become the new princess of Monaco. Yes, yes, I’m joking.)

I find all this a bit mortifying. I’m too self-critical…and would take things too personally, especially if what they wrote was scathing/hurtful.

I often wonder…how does Madonna do it? From Dennis Rodman to her brother….and most newspapers/rags all over the world…trash her on a weekly basis. I think you have to have nerves and a spine of steel. I realize that it comes with the territory, but it is brutal.

Hmm….I think I am formulating a question…now…...

So, @DarlingRhadamanthus, will you ever re-read the comment you just posted? ;-)

@ru2bz46…Just did. :)

Yes of course, to see there perspective.
But would wonder why they could not have talked to me about any issues , if ther were any?
I would cherish it anyways, as a reminder from a person who knew me.
I have maintained a daily journal for years, and I hope that it will do someone good in the future.
It is just about human foibles and understanding how I lived through rough times growing up etc