She would have been better off to keep blogging

When Ayelet Waldman had her short-lived blog a few months ago, I checked in at least once a day. She seemed candid and honest about the difficulties of balancing motherhood, her bipolar disorder and the writing life, and the voice really worked in blog format. But then she stopped and began writing for pay at Salon.

And suddenly, the voice got just a bit creepy.

It’s not so much that I fault Waldman for admitting her emotional bonds to her children aren’t as airtight as others. People should doubt and not necessarily accept things as absolute, and lord knows the topic of motherhood is about the most push-button-worthy one out there, one that’s difficult to intellectualize because people get their hackles up incredibly quickly. But as I read through this and also her latest Salon piece (sit through the stupid ad if you want to) I get more and more horrified not only for her kids, but for her husband — I mean, Chabon’s already in the spotlight enough, does he need to have his wife air out all their dirty laundry?

Whatever happened to fictionalizing everything and changing people’s names? Or whatever happened to keeping some things back for the greater good of everyone else?

Then again, maybe it’s just passe to keep your personal life personal now, considering the glut of memoirs of late. (last link from http://www.bookslut.com/blog)

UPDATE: But if this kind of thing is what it took to get T-Muffle out of the parody woodwork again, hell, I’m all for it.