The Unabomber's brother "ratted" him out. Thank jesus.

Would I rat her out over a book? I dunno. Guess it depends what the topic of the book was.

Is she passing herself off as an expert or put herself in a potentially causing harm to another person? (I'm actually thinking of Frey and his boasts about how he didn't need AA or therapy kick drugs, he could do it cold by himself no problem. Which is f-king irresponsible)

Then I might rat her ass out.

I didn't read this chick's book. But in the reviews I read she advocated gang life, glamorized it, claimed she was still a member "because you're in for life."

That's some irresponsible shit. So fuck yeah I'd rat her out.

lola82

I STILL have fingernail scars from you:P

gabelle

ArtBitch

that said, i've had many opportunitites to rat her out for things she did that were of varying degrees of legality, and i've never once thought about actually doing it. it's that unspoken sister code. however, if she were to write some made up story about our family and say it was real, i would totes speak out against it in a heartbeat. i'm loyal to my sister (much more than i should be) but i'm also loyal to the rest of my family.

Agrado

I realize that I am blessed with a close and fully functional relationship with my siblings and it's probably atypical. But yeah. That's my take.

shiningstar

On the subject of all of these authors embellishing memoirs these days, whatever happened to fiction? You're ALLOWED to lie in fiction! In fact, it's encouraged! In fact, a lot of people prefer to read it! Because at least when I know it's made up, I don't spend half the book thinking "oh these people actually expect me to BELIEVE this happened?"

quityourlife

I'm an only child and not a big fan of family. I've seen my parents get into bitter, nasty, bloody fights with their siblings. I know for a fact that, if Peggy Seltzer were in either branch of my family, she would have been cut.

Bindarra

warbean

So I took matters into my own hands- I took my mother's antique engagment ring, which she hadn't be able to wear in months due to her pregnancy bloat, and "hid" it. Where did I hide it you may ask? In the one place no-one would ever find it- the bottom of the garbage can. The idea was to hold it hostage until they took my sister back to the hospital where she belonged.

Obviously, my sister is still around, and I am amazed that after three patient days of searching my parents didn't make sure that I didn't reach my fifth birthday. :)

When I was 13, and desperate for attention, I started stealing- just little things like makeup at Target and the likes. In my own pathetic juvenile delinquent way I thought I was pretty bad ass. Then my younger sister turned me into my folks; no exaggeration, I was grounded for the entire summer. It was misery, and pretty much stunted any bids for popularity throughout the rest of high school (or at least it felt like it at the time).

Now I'm grateful that she didn't return to the hospital, and that she turned me in on that fateful spring day. She was right, I was wrong, and I was saved the humiliation and embarrassment of getting busted by some department store detective. Now, twenty years later she's my best friend- if someone is willing to call you on even your stupidest bullshit, then you should keep that person as close to you as humanly possible. I love you, sissa wissa.

Gaelmor

prettyneurotic

awhellsnaw

summerwheatley

Jenloveshercurves

Do I call her on her lies, manipulations and bizarre unnecessary fabrications? All the time. Do I ever feel guilty? No. Just because she's related to me doesn't mean I need to encourage her bad behavior.

JaneBadall

AlmostZooey

AlmostZooey

"I'm not interested in justice. I'm interested in quiet."

We tormented each other terribly as children, but now that she's on the opposite coast we get along fine. But if she writes a fake memoir casting my awesome family as anything but teh coolest!1! I would rat her out in a second.

skittlbrau

bigleggedwoman

hamburgerhotdog

JSouth

I think it's ballsy that she thought she could put her pic on a book about a past that never happened and no one would out her. That's bizarre.

noseriously

AnikaG

hamburgerhotdog

At least, that is how disclosure happens in my neighborhood.

CorporateTool

amoureuse would like to borrow a dollar

Or put it this way: if I had a toxically crazy sibling who refused to change, I probably would just look the other way, as long as their actions weren't affecting anyone else. But if I saw that his or her crazyass behavior had become a major large-scale deception, I would probably do whatever I could to stop it.

Candyboots

lojo1714

Enjoy your sisters week! =) Mine is actually away for a week and I miss her... but she'll be back on Thursday. Yay!

MsDirector

JustT

Lady Skittlehattington

spikenard

Trashtastic

Lady Skittlehattington

Her exact words to him were, "No one picks on my little sister but me!"

FattyCatty

zivah

zivah

Trashtastic

Oh, who am I kidding?

Trashtastic

Usedtobealice

J.D.Regent

hharlowe

If the sister hadn't turned her in, Peggy went on her book tour, and cried on Oprah before her lies were discovered, I gurandamntee you that someone would say "Doesn't she have a family? Why didn't anyone come forward before now?"

BlondeGrlz

Muffyn

I don't think it's so wrong for anyone to demand the same respect from a sibling as from a friend. I put up with my parents' favoritism for years, and my sister's disrespect and petulance, and things got immeasurably better when I realized that I did not have to take it from either of them just because they were family. Having a close family is overrated; having control over who has access to your emotional commitments, your finances, and your integrity is not.

TheFormerJuneBronson

Muffyn

She found God and got all preachy and new mom competitive (despite the fact I had been mothering long before her), and then insisted that I "step up and be a real woman" (for the children, such as - and on MYSPACE no less!) after I'd been totally fucked over by my mother, who is not her mother, which was very peculiar, considering she'd mostly hated my mother for breaking up her mother's marriage.

God, just writing about it exhausts me. Anyway, it's real sad that we're not one big, happy fucking family and all, but I have no interest in having judgey, preachy Born Agains be a part of my life.

So, yeah, FUCK SISTERS. Cheers!

buggeroff

They are both great but we still have violent not-talking fits in our mid to late 20s.

Melissa

Beanfish

JustT

MsDirector

LinaLamont

AlmostZooey

socasweet

But, like I said, we're ridiculously close. She's the most important thing in the world to me (oh yeah, older sister caretaker, right here) so I can't see myself ever not being on her side.

MsDirector

BadenBaden

But I do love my sister - and I'd turn her in if she was being an idiot. No one outside of the family can talk about my sister poorly, but it's perfectly acceptable for me to do it.

lurkystars

galaxina

FLegion

- Publishing houses encourage memoirs because they sell better and there's a surplus of fiction in the market now, so I wouldn't be surprised if it came to light that she first pitched it as fiction and was told to change it
- The author used a fake name, so her 'family's honor' wasn't betrayed (also, who do we think they are? The Capulets?!)
- The author claims to have done it for selfless reasons (bringing attention to a forgotten but still rampant issue, etc)

So I still think the older sis is lame for turning her in.

BadenBaden

bowleserised

CorporateTool

LBB

I think that had she seen me making a stupid mistake like Seltzer's, she would have turned me in too, and rightly so.

redhooker

I have two older sisters, and while they have been many things to me--friend, rival, drinking buddy, artistic collaborator, etc--neither one of them has ever been my "caretaker"

The sister probably ratted her out because, as a sister, she knew the score. And as a person with a conscience, she felt she should report the truth. It wasn't a case of loyalty, per se, but the fact that they were DIFFERENT PEOPLE and had different concepts of what was right in the given situation.

dinosaurkitten

dashenbka

Remember how the uni-bomber's brother "ratted" him out? People called him disloyal - I call him a hero! Its like John Lennon said in Imagine, the world would be better place without private allegiances - we would look out for EVERYONE, not just those with a connection to us.

lippybug

RocketRockit

SVreader

faire-la-moue

Jerseylicious

SheLaughs

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

ceejeemcbeegee

My sister never told me that she resented the fact that I was ever born, but we have pics from when I was one year old of my sister stealing my bottle.

petuniacat

Whether this had to do with sibling jealousy is beside the point--she lied about her family, her family has a right to be pissed and publicly call her out on it. As desylicious pointed out, these are adults, they can fucking take responsibility for their actions.

KidPresentable

I imagine an inner voice saying "OK Peggy was always having a hard time with the truth but now she's having a memoir published? And she's got a whole foundation? Oh boy time to stage an intervention."

Chryss

wolf biter

ceejeemcbeegee

My dad once wisely said - "Melissa, never get stuck on an island with Jaclyn, she will eat you for food." I love her but it's 100% true.

Melissa

I'm not sure what I would have done in the same situation-- I would very much not want to rat my sister out, and would definitely try and first have a "come to jesus" meeting with her about it at the very least. Whether after that I'd tell? Maybe, if only because I'd be worried about it all blowing up in her face further down the road when it could cause even more damage...

formergr

LinaLamont

I feel the same way about my friends.

frumious

FattyCatty

Colleen07

HokeyPokey

ceejeemcbeegee

little stripes

midwesternmom

Lady Skittlehattington

Archetype

petuniacat

On the other hand - what if the younger sister has a mental problem, like she is a compulsive liar or something? Being rewarded with positive attention and glowing reviews will only reinforce the behavior. Maybe the older sister was more concerned about the longterm impact on her sister's mental health. Then I could see telling out of desperation, in an effort to force her to get some help.

Yes, y'all can just call me Pollyanna from now on....

FattyCatty

now, excuse me while i dismount from my high horse.

faire-la-moue

CorporateTool

Mom still goes on about how easygoing I was. I can follow along with her story about me as a kid word by word, inflections and all.

wednesdayam

HAHAHAHAH!

You could rewrite that exact script using Beeble and Beeblejunior.

Only add a few F-bombs coming from Beeble.

beeble

Jerseylicious

Political Party Girl

CorporateTool

If my younger sister did this (and I don't think she ever would), I don't know what I'd do. I'm sure that calling her out would earn me the scorn of the rest of my family (and yet if it were vice-versa, I'd still be the one in trouble). I think often (not always), older kids are expected to take on more burdens/responsibilities for the family, and are more often held to the "being loyal to your family, no matter what" standard. Recently, my mom begged me to do some unimportant-but-intrusive-to-me favor to satisfy my sister's whim, saying, "Can't you just do this for her?" I know she would never ask my sister that about me.

SVreader

Need another slow dance?

Lady Skittlehattington

LBB

hilaryy

Political Party Girl

petuniacat

brendastarlet

I don't think that being related to someone obligates you to condone something you feel is immoral, especially if it directly affects you. It's a judgment call you just have to make for yourself.

layladylan

I never fight with the brother (6 years older) but spent half of my life battling the sister (1 1/2 years older). 14 years is a big gap...

eri401

NefariousNewt

SpicyTamale πβɸ

Dear Blond Diary...

BAngieB

I'd do anything for my older sister and def. wouldn't handle a situation like this in the same way. my younger sister, meh...if I bothered to care/get energized about her, I'd narc on her.

summerwheatley

Lady Skittlehattington: MORNING! Isn't it lovely outside?

Dame Taffyhat: Leave me alone.

Skittlehattington: What's your problem?

Taffyhat: I just want to be left alone.

Skittlehattington: Fine. I guess.

Taffyhat: Look, I'm just not a morning person.

Skittlehattington: I don't see how that gives you an excuse to be a bitch to me. All I said was hi.

Taffyhat: Just shut up.

Skittlehattington: You shut up.

Taffyhat: I KEEEEEEEL YOU!

(20 minutes later)

Taffyhat: I love you.

Skittlehattington: I love you, too. Let's never fight again.

AND REPEAT.

Lady Skittlehattington

But my sister's had enough shit in her own life that she wouldn't have to lie in her memoir, so this question's a moot point.

Jerseylicious

BadenBaden

NoInheritance

Also, before we go too far down the sister thing, doesn't Dave 'Child Called It' Pelzer have a brother who says his books are a lie? And another who says they're a true story, and who has coincidentally got his own writing gig as 'Brother of a Child Called It' or what-have-you?

Yesterday I saw a misery memoir called 'Ma, He Sold Me For A Few Cigarettes'.

The parodies write themselves.

bowleserised

CorporateTool

AnnaWintwhore

If the sister called up the media without going directly to the younger sister first and finding out what the deal was, that's SHADY and mean and disloyal. But we have no idea what their relationship is. However, I am with @lisas: in that I would hide a body if my sisters needed me to.

BadenBaden

Jezebabe

I would like to point out though that Hoffman went to her sister's publisher, not the media. She probably thought she was doing them a favor. I say good for her. It's clearly the more moral choice.

LookyLoo

missmay

AGreenEyeDevil

NoInheritance

little stripes

I get along with one of my sisters fine, but the other one has been a right bitch to my whole family besides me, for no reason, so she and I don't talk anymore.

katekate is squared

CorporateTool

frecklefacefreak

brookidy

wednesdayam

lisas

CMG

What's weird is that I just started thinking about the majority of my close friends, and most have brothers, not sisters. And most have younger brothers, at that.

My mother has one sister, a year apart. They are very different but very close. That's really been my main exposure to "sisterhood."

Archetype

Political Party Girl

frecklefacefreak

I really don't have any insight into the sister thing as mine will always have the mental capacity of a toddler. As much of a pain as siblings can be, sometimes I think it would've been nice to have someone to talk to...

AlmostZooey

I say "seems" because who really knows what the sister's motivation was in turning her in. But if my sister or another relative decided to write (and profit from) a book that fabricated my family's life, I'd be pissed as hell, to put it lightly.

petuniacat

LadyNo Fondles Sweaters