What are some "nonfictions" books that turned out to be complete BS?
What are some "nonfictions" books that turned out to be complete BS?
I know Jay's Journal and Go Ask Alice were bullshit but there's bound to be at least a bunch more since "nonfiction" isn't really a regulated term in any way whatsoever
There’s “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey
Yup I got duped by that one
Kinda sorta The Painted Bird.
The Painted Bird was published and marketed as a fictional work although it was generally assumed that it was based on the author's experiences during World War II. Only later did it become clear to most reviewers that Kosiński was neither the boy in the story nor did he share any of the boy's experiences, as revealed in a series of articles in newspapers and books.(2)[16] The depicted events are now widely known to be fictional.
At least they didn't pretend it was non fictional
Interesting...
“Eat right 4 your type” by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo. https://quackwatch.org/consumer-education/negativebr/d-adamo/
Widely available in health shops where I live, his book has been proven wrong about our blood, diet and he will not publish the “scientific” evidence he claims to have.
I’ve seen many people turn to this book, hoping to improve their health. It’s such a devious way to make money.
The book is successful because it (fallaciously) explains a very real phenomenon that’s confusing to most people- there’s no one healthy and satisfying way to eat for everyone.
My sister and I have two nearly opposite digestive issues: she has celiac’s, and I can’t digest meat. She lost weight and got happier when she cut most grains out, but when I switched to mostly greens and grains, my acne cleared up, I slept better, and I took better shits (I had already been eating greens). Now we each have a medically documented digestive issue, so there’s clearly something else causing this, but we didn’t know that as kids. At that point, we just saw siblings who obviously reacted very differently to the same nutritional input.
A book like this might have gotten my mom, especially because I’m type A (my sister’s either A or O, so there’s a chance it would have really gotten her and made thanksgiving super annoying). I don’t think it’s scientific, and I do think it’s morally reprehensible to just scam people like this, but I think there is something (or many somethings) we’re missing, and this book might be right that some do better with meat and some with grains. It’s poppycock that it has to do with blood type (B can digest dairy, so that means there’s basically no Chinese people over 70 with type B blood, right?), but I understand why people latch onto it.
The podcast If books could kill makes one episode per bullshit book and they thoroughly debunk it!
That includes The Game, Hillbilly Elegy, The Rules, Liberal Fascism, etc.
The Bible
The Road to Serfdom by Hayek. It turns out that social security isn’t a sufficient and necessary precondition to Stalinist purges and mass slaughter.
I saw my coworker reading a book last year about “everyone knows black people are awful stupid criminals, but why are they like that?”
What was it called? I’m gonna try and find that title. I watched this dude get radicalized by YouTube in real-time it was nuts. Poor guy. Poor all of us really
Shantaram by Roberts. It’s supposedly his own autobiography, but no one reading the book critically would believe that. The main character is to perfect to be just “a guy”. Too much luck and coincidences. Other than that, it’s a great fiction book. It talks about his years in India, where as a poor Australian he integrated into the lowest echelons of Indian society. He writes beautifully, and depicts things that usually don’t come up in the tourist books. Definitely worth a read if you like long reads.
A second party should have come out, but I haven’t read it nor know anything about it.
Satanic panic books such as The Satan Seller and Michelle Remembers
Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
https://www.chronicle.com/article/50-years-of-stupid-grammar-advice/
Found the OG PDF without the subscription: http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/50years.pdf
Pretty sure both Three Cups of Tea and The Boy In the Striped Pajamas turned out to be completely fictional.
Harari’s Sapiens (2011) was a fun, easy read but short on science.