n.
A literary genre that features individuals dealing with fatal or devastating diseases. Also: sick lit.
Example Citations:
Literary media have been abuzz about the "sick-lit" controversy: novels written for teenagers with themes of death, fatal disease and psychological disease such as anorexia.
—Russell Smith, " Sick-lit: a symptom of publishing's decline?: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/sick-lit-a-symptom-of-publishings-decline/article8632529/?cmpid=rss1," The Globe and Mail, February 13, 2013
The blurbs for 'teen sick-lit' — as it's become known — trip over themselves to promise their books will drive readers 'to tears' or leave them 'devastated'.
—Tanith Carey, " The 'sick-lit' books aimed at children: It's a disturbing phenomenon. Tales of teenage cancer, self-harm and suicide...: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2256356/The-sick-lit-books-aimed-children-Its-disturbing-phenomenon-Tales-teenage-cancer-self-harm-suicide-.html," The Daily Mail, January 3, 2013
Earliest Citation:
If you want to read a good book by a famous person, check out Karen Duffy's "Model Patient," which takes the genre of Sick Lit — wherein mostly female memoirists explore their battles with cancer, depression, lupus, anorexia, et al. — and turns it on its head.
—Jennifer Weiner, "Celebrity Biography Roundup: Jewel and Karen Duffy," The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 2, 2000
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New words. 2013.