Template:Did you know nominations/My Memoir

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The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by SL93 (talk) 20:56, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

My Memoir

Created by Eddie891 (talk). Self-nominated at 22:59, 21 November 2020 (UTC).

  • Comment Neither of these hooks look great to me. First, many memoirs are self-serving apologia[1] (just look at Wehrmacht generals for a darker example). Second, many of them are written to defend someone's legacy (essentially the same thing from the other POV). (t · c) buidhe 23:56, 21 November 2020 (UTC)
  • While it may be common for Nazi generals, it isn't necessarily for First Ladies of the United States, particularly to have their memoirs openly called that. I skimmed Genzlinger's essay and, while interesting, I don't think it's relevant, given that he's bemoaning the "lost art of shutting up", when one becomes "lost in a sea of people you’ve never heard of" "writing uninterestingly about the unexceptional". I wouldn't consider the wife of a President of the United States uninteresting or unexeptional, and Woodrow Wilson is certainly someone that people have heard of last I checked. While it is true that many memoirs defend someone, I think it rare that they defend someone who isn't the author of the autobiography. Of course, I may be completely wrong here, as I am often. Cheers, Eddie891 Talk Work 00:38, 23 November 2020 (UTC)
Just an FYI on the subject matter. Edith did what she had to do for her husband and for the country. While it well might be that the doctors advised her to do so, mentioning in the hook, dilutes her somewhat heroic role in keeping the country running.— Maile (talk) 16:58, 23 November 2020 (UTC)
  • QPQ done. The entry is long enough, new enough, no Earwig pings, sources are presented neutrally although I find myself wondering whether there are more out there that might have a different idea about what constitutes “historical value”. Regardless what is in the entry seems probably sufficient at this point. I’m in agreement with Buidhe and Maile that it makes the most sense to make the hook something more distinguishing about the book so I’m ticking the most recent proposal. Innisfree987 (talk) 19:57, 24 December 2020 (UTC)