Death of the celebrity memoir?

December 17, 8:57 PMSeattle Books ExaminerDanielle Dreger-Babbitt

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Have celebrity memoirs run their course?  Jezebel and the London Times are reporting that the popularity of ghost-written celebrity memoirs has declined rapidly.  According to the Times article, the sale of trade non-fiction (specifically celebrity autobiographies) is down by about three percent.  The lack of consumer interest is causing bookstores to slash the price of these memoirs and toss them into bargain book bins.

My question is why exactly are these memoirs losing popularity?  Is it because readers are tired of faux celebrities and their poorly written fifteen minutes of fame?  Are they losing popularity because readers are looking for a more substantial book to read during the current economic crisis?  Or is it because of the recession that buyers have stopped purchasing memoirs because they can barely afford a $4 gallon of milk, let alone a $25 memoir written by Tori Spelling?

I would think that because of the economy is so bad and the current cultural obsession with celebrity gossip that these memoirs would be flying off the shelves.  Websites like Perez Hilton and TMZ get millions of hits every day with people looking to lose themselves in gossip about the lives of the rich and fabulous.