Family secrets

I bet you would have known by now that the Man Booker Prize 2007 award bestowed to Anne Enright's The Gathering. It is yet another tale of a dysfunctional family! Intriguingly coincident, my latest (within the recent 2-3 months) read are mostly either about the dark side of family (Book #1-#4) or the gloomy side of life (Book #5 & #6).

1) The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls (Winner of Alex Award 2006)
http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Alex-Awards/dp/0743247531

2) Ugly - Constance Briscoe
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ugly-Constance-Briscoe/dp/0340895977

3) Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt (Winner of Pulitzer Prize 1997)
http://www.amazon.com/Angelas-Ashes-Memoir-Frank-McCourt/dp/068484267X

4) 'Tis - Frank McCourt
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tis-Frank-McCourt/dp/0007205244

5) For one more day - Mitch Albom
http://www.amazon.com/One-More-Day-Mitch-Albom/dp/1401303277

6) Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
http://www.amazon.com/Tuesdays-Morrie-Young-Greatest-Lesson/dp/0385484518

The bestseller lists are full of memoirs about miserable childhoods and anguished families. Why are authors confessing their hurt so freely and why do readers find morbid enjoyment in them? Errr... before you start to think that there is something wrong with me, let me add that Book #2-#4 are not mine; and I'd a completely normal childhood; although it could be more perfect if I was assigned with less housework and more pocket money. :p