Cecilia Konchar Farr

"Let's talk about novels" is the clarion call of Konchar Farr's book, and one that I am willing to answer. Writing to the "academy" and calling out the coded dismissal of genre and "women's" fiction, KF takes a deep look at the chasm that divides America's reading communities: the critics and literature professors from the average readers who drive the "best sellers" lists. She links the history of the American novel to its truly consumerist past and how its very consumption has been turned against it in the name of highbrow art.

KF's point is not that critics and "art" does not have it's place but that there should be a meeting in the middle and that discussions are what should take place about any novel. She even gives props to Nancy Pearl (librarian queen of RA), which is something I rarely find literature professors able to do.

Her writing is accessible especially in the investigation chapters, and full of "parenthetical snark." It's thoroughly enjoyable and gives hope that Literature (with a capital L), can make room for literature/fiction/genre in a more equitable way.… (más)

Farr argues that literary critics and literature professors are out of step with the kinds of novels Americans actually read. She points out that James Joyce's Ulysses shows up on nearly all lists of Best Novels done periodically by various news organizations and publishers but that comparatively few people have *read* Ulysses, never mind loved it. (She doesn't say no one, nor does she imply that no one has ever enjoyed it. Don't @ me.) If the "best" books are the books people don't read much, and the books people *do* read and love *aren't* the "best" books, something must be amiss. Farr's book explores where the disconnect is, considers why there's a disconnect, and offers some suggestions for better ways forward. She argues that regular readers are looking for books that are absorbing, relatable, discussable, and/or provide information but that these are not the qualities most critics and professors use to identify good or important books. She also invokes [[Nancy Pearl]]'s notion of the "doorways" through which readers enter books: story, character, setting, and language and posits that the doorway most readers find "narrowest" --language--is pretty much the only doorway literature professors use. Farr expands on and explicates all of this by discussing Lolita, Oprah's book club, "chick lit," Jodi Picoult, and Harry Potter, among others. The book is fascinating, smart, and, I think, long overdue. It's aimed at both a scholarly and a lay audience, so it's perhaps a slightly dense read but absolutely accessible. Recommended.… (más)