A Child Called "It"

Controversy

In 2002, Pat Jordan wrote a disputed article in The New York Times Magazine that questioned the reliability of Pelzer's recollections. He said that "Pelzer has an exquisite recall of his abuse, but almost no recall of anything that would authenticate that abuse", such as any details about his mother.[2] Pelzer's younger brother, Stephen Pelzer, has disputed his book, denying that any abuse took place, and stating that he thinks Pelzer was placed in foster care because "he started a fire and was caught shoplifting", and goes on to accuse Pelzer of having been discharged from the US Air Force on psychological grounds.[2] However, another brother, Richard Pelzer, is author of the book A Brother's Journey, which affirms much of what Dave has said and describes his own abuse when Dave was finally removed from the home. In regard to Stephen's comments, Dave Pelzer has said that Stephen is "semi-retarded, he has Bell's palsy. He worshipped my mum. He misses her terribly because she protected him."[8] Furthermore, he has documented proof that – contrary to Stephen's accusations – he was honorably discharged from the US Air Force.[2] Due to the criticism from The New York Times Magazine article, Pelzer does not give interviews often.[8]

In an article in The Boston Globe, Pelzer's maternal grandmother said she believed Pelzer had been abused but not as severely as he described. She also said she did not believe his brother Richard was abused. It was revealed, however, that Pelzer's grandmother did not live in the same state as his family and was not in contact with them at the time of the abuse.[24]

In a review for The Guardian, Geraldine Bedell notes that gaps in the background narrative "makes the foreground harder to trust", but believes that "substantially, [Pelzer]'s telling the truth ... But there is a definite feeling of exaggeration in the later two books...".[19] More than any concern about the veracity of all the minutia in the novel, she was bothered by the trend of authors even writing about their abusive childhoods, grouping Pelzer with Andrea Ashworth, Jennifer Lauck, Martin Amis and Tony Thornton as authors who she feels are merely profiting from their abuse by writing in an entertaining style – though she does mention examples of "national and local agencies working with sexual-abuse survivors" appreciating the honest portrayal of what happens in these situations.[19]


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