I hate to begin 2021 with a rant, but it will end on a positive note. (I promise.)
In November, the New York Times released an article entitled “100 Notable Books of 2020”. As an author seeking representation/publication, I read it eagerly, hoping to learn about the market and possibly find some new authors in my field (and agents to query).
I skimmed through the whole list—100 books.
And then I got angry.
Of the fiction books on the list, all but one—ONE—were from the “literary fiction” genre. The single exception was a romance novel.
No fantasy.
No sci-fi.
No genre fiction of any kind.
It’s as if the editors of the NY Times Book Review reached condescending hands through the screen and patted me on the head. “Sure, all those other genres are fun, but they don’t matter,” these imagined editors crooned. “Fantasy and sci-fi books don’t change lives. Romance novels don’t reflect/influence culture (except this one random book, which we rather liked). Mysteries don’t inspire meditation on the human condition. Only SERIOUS books matter. THESE are the books that will impact the world.”
With all due respect, NY Times . . . no.
I’m sure all the books on your list are profound and important, but the glaring uniformity of the content rather undermines the value of such a list.
What about Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi?
What about N. K. Jemisin’s The City We Became?
What about all the cozy mysteries and comforting romances that helped get people through quarantine?
What about ANY OTHER KIND OF BOOK?
FIE. ON. IT.
There’s the rant done. Now for the positive ending:
The start of a new year is always a good time to reevaluate one’s goals. As I wrote in a 2018 post:
I believe my job is to seek out Wonder and share it with as many people as possible, as often as possible, conveying as much Beauty and Joy as possible.
And, as I reiterated in last year’s “Why I Write Fantasy” series, the most direct route to Wonder FOR ME is through fantasy.
So I shall continue reading—and writing—fantasy.
Hear me: I am not decrying literary fiction. In fact, I recently realized that I’d been rather immersed in the SFF genre of late, so I decided to balance my charge through C. A. Higgins’s Lightless trilogy and the entire How to Train Your Dragon series (a Christmas gift) with an a rereading of John Steinbeck’s To a God Unknown.
And, true to form, Steinbeck hath slain me once again, reminding me that the lines between genres aren’t so firm after all. I mean, look at this quote:
As he looked into the valley, Joseph felt his body flushing with a hot fluid of love. “This is mine,” he said simply, and his eyes sparkled with tears and his brain was filled with wonder that this should be his. There was pity in him for the grass and the flowers; he felt that the trees were his children and the land his child. For a moment he seemed to float high in the air and to look down upon it. “It’s mine,” he said again, “and I must take care of it.”
I defy you to find a more poignant expression of an author’s feelings towards the world of their book — regardless of its style or content.
Happy 2021, friends—no matter the ongoing stressors.
Happy reading—no matter the genre.
Happy Wonder-seeking—no matter what the NY Times Book Review says.
Amen!!!
Indeed! I wonder how the NYT would rank Chronicles of Narnia if it had been published in 2020?
You can’t control how the river flows but you can control how you paddle down it to get where you need to go. Buckminster Fuller said, “don’t fight the forces, use the forces”. And paddle you must! Hunger is a powerful force and hungry people buy food! People are hungry on Amazon and like a fish are looking for something shiny. Health,wealth and relationship books are number 1 sellers for a reason; we all have hunger pains to be happy, strong and healthy. Great news, the same topics are also found in fiction. You got this! 😉
In Star Wars they say may the force be with you, its better to say may you be with the force! Amen!
Well played! 🙂
Thank you for the encouragement! Use the forces, indeed. Forth, and fear no darkness!
An influential rabbi wrote about a conversation he had on a plane, he asked his row mate “how are you serving humanity?”, not “what do you do for a living?” The more you serve others, the more inevitably returns to you. No disrespect to many dead authors who have certainly made their mark on the world, but how can you serve the living readers? A wise man said, “The best currency, the most valuable of all is gratitude; when you’re dead, you’re dead, but you’re not quite so dead if you contribute something.”
May we each contribute something every day – even if we can’t see the fruit. Thank you!
All Star Wars characters seem to agree: Vader said not to underestimate the power of the Force, Obi Wan said use the Force and Yoda said it is a powerful ally. He also said, do or do not, there is no try. Rest comes later; it will be either after a great effort or before a fantastic excuse, (I’m talking to myself here). It is difficult to free ourselves of a cognitive bias, but we can re-designate that bias and learn and grow. Knowledge does not equal understanding and truth is Truth. It doesn’t judge it just is for the little while that we are here. So where do we go from here? You said it, further up and further in!
“After a great effort or before a fantastic excuse”: excellently said. May we all persevere to go further up and further in!
Field of Dreams- If you build it they will come. If you provide value they will buy. Success fruits come from branches of value and effort, stemmed from service, watered and sunned by relationship selling and rooted in gratitude. NYT was reviewing data and dominant forces,. From Animal Farm, all animals are equal but some are more equal than others. The good thing about books is they are a new animal all the time.
Success IS rooted in gratitude. An excellent reminder. Thank you!
What angers you controls you. NYT’s list sounds like an opportunity! When better books are written and sold they will make the list regardless of genre. Jim Rohn, the development Godfather said things will get better when we get better, Nike’s slogan isn’t just try it. Recently Perseverance joined its sibling Curiosity on Mars. How fitting their names, where would be without either? Brilliant choice of names and inspiration for future books. A little curiosity or doubt (same thing) first and a lot of perseverance later.
Well said! Curiosity + Perseverance = POSSIBILITY. And there is always hope in possibility. Thank you!