Opinion: Jaycee Dugard: Brave young author, or victim once again?

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The editorial board has been discussing Tuesday morning the announcement that Jaycee Lee Dugard is publishing a book this summer about the 18 years she spent in awful captivity, forced to live much of her life in a box in the backyard, sexually abused by her kidnapper, and giving birth to her first daughter when she was only 14.

Of course, the world wishes the best to Dugard. May she make many millions from this book, on top of the $20 million the state is paying her. The question is whether this book was Dugard’s independent choice, or whether she was pressed into it by overeager publicists in an era when everybody’s personal secrets are up for grabs. It has been less than two years since she emerged from her horror, thanks to the sharp eyes and thoughtful mind of a UC Berkeley police officer. That doesn’t seem like a lot of time for her to have figured out the instant-information, sell-it-all world that she only recently joined. What do you think?

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-- Karin Klein