Saturday, January 4, 2014

Bestselling Author Thinks Novels with Fantasy in Them Don't Feature Death.

A few months ago, I posted about genre ignorance and those who should know better. The person I used as my example was a person who volunteered for and belonged to a Friends of the Library group.  Sometimes even the most well-intentioned individuals don't know as much as they should, but what about those who actually work as professional writers?

New York Times Bestselling literary fiction author Russell Banks (whom I must confess was entirely off my radar until now) has now stated in two separate interviews that he avoids reading anything described by its author as fantasy because death is apparently not present in such works.  I guess all the jokes my publisher makes about the high body counts in my novels are just jokes.

Read the latest Banks bluster here.

I haven't seen such an unbearable amount of self-indulgence since I tried reading the latest Chabon novel...and I'm a fan of his!

This is yet another case of genre snubbing in favor of what is perceived as "serious literature." Never mind how unreadable and dull much of it is, it apparently still stands head and shoulders above anything involving fantasy.

To paraphrase my fellow Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers member Michael Cieslak, I used to get so angry when I heard or read these things, but now I just experience pity for narrow minds that will ever experience variety.

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2 Migraine-inducingly Moronic Posts

 No commentary, no attempts to rationalize. Just gaze, if you dare, on the stupid!