The writer's background, essential knowledge or irrelevant?

[Minnie]

Last night I became quite involved in a discussion about a book that I disliked so much I had to stop reading it. The counter-argument was, "yes but the author had suffered so much!" I don't care if the author has had an awful life unless it contributes to a good story. However, I found myself in a minority because most of my friends were very interested in the story behind the story, i.e. what made the author write this particular story. Some trauma must, it seems ignite the flame to write a traumatic book and they want to know about that experience.
Is this knowledge relevant and is the assumption of trauma true?

[Bree]

Myself personally - unless it was a memoir, I could really care less. I don't research the authors before reading their books - I just find books that sound interesting to me...and read them! :) And at the same time - even if it IS a memoir...I don't read more about them other than the book.

[Salma]

The ONLY time I think it's good to know the background is if it's some advice book- eg. financial advice, romantic help- you wanna make sure you've got someone who knows what they're talking about.

[Salma]

"Last night I became quite involved in a discussion about a book that I disliked so much I had to stop reading it. The counter-argument was, "yes but the author had suffered so much!"

I've got to know- what book was this?

[Elizabeth]

The only thing I really care about is the cultural influences on the book, and if it's a historical fiction, did the author do sufficient research to make it sound authentic as possible?

[Matthew]

Unfortunately for the author, their suffering is moot if they cannot engage the reader in the story. I desperately want to know what the book is!

[Minnie]

It's an Afrikaans book called "Raaisel kind" meaning Riddle child and its about an autistic child and all the suffering etc etc it entails. my problem wasn't the subject matter but the forced and overly dramatic style of writing. If one compares it to "The strange incident of the dog at midnight" (I think that's the title) which also deals with a child suffering from a form of autism, the book I disliked is absolute trash! As Dorothy Parker once said "This book is not to be set aside lightly, it should be tossed away with great force!"