So, back to my earlier blog about the “Top Chef” of writing… Originally I wanted to use the metaphor of Division I sports with regard to evaluating levels or degrees of quality with literature, because I thought most people would recognize that “Division I” means the best in college sports. I figured many people wouldn’t realize how a school becomes Division I (I needed to ask my husband about this myself and realized that number of scholarships offered, generous alumni, etc… wouldn’t really cross over into literature very well). But the question still remains, how do we determine the level of quality a work of literature has achieved?
It would be easy if we could simply rely on the buying public — use the New York Times bestseller list and be done with the discussion. But it obviously isn’t that simple, for many reasons. One, how would we measure the patient readers of the world who choose to wait months for their number to come up at the library? And how do we know that the buying public is discriminate in their tastes? I realize this is getting into dangerous territory… snob alert! But simply google “Top Blogs” and see how many Hollywood gossip sites appear (not to mention other less savory subjects…).
So, then the question becomes… who should determine value — who is qualified? And the next question must be… what does quality even mean, how is it measured, and does the buying public care about these distinctions? How do the titles on the NYT Best Seller List get to be so popular? We know why John Grisham is at the top this week, because we know John Grisham’s work — fast, funny, escapist… even when he isn’t at his best, we still love him. In fact, when he probably is at his best (A Painted House? Well-written but disparaged…), we prefer him to give us what we expect from him.
It’s interesting to look over the list from time to time — we (Americans) seem to like page-turning fiction, self-help nonfiction, and the occasional biography. Maybe this is a snapshot of our American persona right now — always trying to improve and do anything better, embracing fun and recreation, insatiably curious about the lives of others… So, cognitively, isn’t there room in the “self-improvement” category for great literature? And in our appreciation of those who are the best at what they do — including writers?
But we’re back to who determines the best… Maybe we need to get the National Book Award and Pulitizer Prize winners out in the public more? On that front, Oprah deserves praise — as her Book Club has endured, she continues to challenge her viewers and fellow readers to step outside their comfort zone and confront tough subjects and truly excellent writing (Middlesex! Love in the Time of Cholera! Faulkner!). I guess she would be the primary reader or pundit the broadsection of America turns to when perusing the shelves — and thank goodness she isn’t afraid to recommend what many discriminating readers consider to be the best…
