G. Thomas Couser

Vulnerable Subjects explores a range of life-writing scenarios which are of particular interest to me, since some of them are also subjects of my own memoir writing. Couser addresses life-writing about “celebrity,” “ethnography,” and “Life Writing as Death Writing,” (with regards to euthanasia and suicide). He examines Oliver Sacks’ literary case studies involving his human subjects who have high-functioning autism. This book entails weighing competing values: the desire to tell one’s story and the need to protect others, the obligation to truth and the obligations of trust. These ethical concerns are particularly relevant for memoirists to always keep in mind. It is the responsibility of the writer, when exposing vulnerable subjects in his or her work, to do so with great care. For anyone who writes memoir or autoethnography, I'd highly recommend reading this book. Why? Because Couser offers writers a moral compass, of sorts, which may help to guide their choices to disclose or not to disclose.… (meer)