The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books

The blog of The Top Ten author J. Peder Zane.

Forces of Evil
Saturday, March 17, 2007

My March 14th post on commercial fiction has prompted some interesting responses, including several comments on this blog (check them out).

The most frightening - and revealing - came from the blogger Sandra Ruttan, who champions the small-minded forces we're up against.

I imagine her wearing a green eyeshade, counting beans for Philistine International, as she writes (hey, she's multi-tasking!):

Now, let’s examine journalism. Journalism works the same way every other commercial product works. You produce a product which you sell. If you sell enough you stay in the game. If you don’t sell enough you fold.

Yes, Sandra, a newspaper is no different than a can of soda; public interest public schminterest, right? Newspapers have the same obligation to society as the folks who make Kleenex or Pepsi, right?

If journalists didn't have a sense of mission, Watergate never would have been uncovered. I bet much of the great work done by reporters probably hurt the bottom line but it served nobler purposes. It reflected higher ideals, a commitment to doing works that matters. How naive, right Sandra?

And, the sad truth is, too many newspaper publishers have adopted her perspective. They've realized that in the strictest sense foreign bureaus cost more revenue than they generate so they've shut them down. Same goes with book sections.

This approach may make sense in the short run. But as publishers pursue this logic, cutting here, slashing there, they may find that their efforts to please everybody don't please anybody. And, even if they sustain their mighty profit margins by producing passable content with much smaller staffs, what's the point? What creative person - and that's who we hope the biz attracts - wants to spend their lives doing that? What engaged person would want to read it?

Sandra then applies her logic to book reviews:

This is, in my opinion, why review space in many newspapers is decreasing. Reviewers fail to understand their role is not to be a cultural innovator. Their role is to reflect popular culture.

Critics as experts who point readers toward important works? Phooey. Who needs 'em. Right, Sandra? I know what I like. Just tell me it's good! I don't need critics to help me to expand my horizons. I want them to act as mirrors that reflect my good judgment back upon me.

Better yet, critics, save your words. Just run Amazon.com's rankings - and only the Top Ten, please. That will insure that I never read "unpopular" fiction.

Posted by J. Peder Zane at 12:27 PM
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1 Comments:

Lisa Guidarini said...: Peder, this was eye-opening insight into exactly how frustrating the battle you fight can be for you. It's also a reminder why it's important in the first place. Reminders like this are a good thing.

I think the people who bristle at what you're saying feel a bit threatened by it. It's an inadequacy issue, at its heart. And I'm not calling them stupid, either, lest someone decide to take a snipe at this comment. It's more an unwillingness to see there may be more things out there than we can appreciate. That's at the root of sniping at literature, journalism, or any of the higher arts.

There's really no shame in admitting when things are beyond you. I admit that with books like 'Ulysses,' but I don't blame the book. I don't even necessarily always blame myself. I chalk it up to Joyce having had different experiences and influences, and that difference can sometimes be why I don't appreciate an author's work as much as others might. But I don't say "Joyce was an idiot." I say, I'll try him again at some other point, when I've had more experience, and maybe there'll be something there for me. If not, that's fine. There are plenty other writers out there I can identify with. But, again, that doesn't diminish Joyce's greatness.

I appreciate what you're doing, and how hard you're fighting, and I know an awful lot of other people do, too.; March 19, 2007 7:10 AM