[ExI] for fiction readers only

[William Flynn Wallace]

Well, lil ol me got a letter published in the NYT Book Review.  It was in
response to an article about what is wrong with modern fiction.  Here it is:

Two words:  happy endings.

People buy romance novels, sci-fi and other genres because they know they
will encounter no unhappiness, no depression, no angst, no killings, no
family conflict, etc. the way they will in all of modern fiction.  They
know what to expect from these books, many of which are formulaic, but many
display really good writing too

It's as if there were some rule that literature cannot have happy endings
because those other genres do and it would taint a true work of literature
to have them.

And readers know this.

Similarly, writers know that they must include racism and feminism and the
evils of capitalism because without them their books would be politically
incorrect.

And readers know this too.

So readers don't buy too many books they suspect are 'literature'.

Have you noticed that?

bill w
(a bit of exaggeration in the first paragraph, and I omitted modern
fictions obsession with LGBT issues)
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