What is "misery lit"

n. (cx informal English) A genre of supposedly biographical literature mostly concerned with the protagonist's triumph over personal trauma or abuse.

Misery lit (mis lit, misery memoirs or mis mems, misery porn) is a genre of supposedly biographical literature mostly concerned with the protagonist's triumph over personal trauma or abuse, often during childhood. It is also sometimes called "pathography." The genre is generally considered to be American in origin, but later became popular in Britain as well. The term misery lit was ostensibly coined by The Bookseller magazine.