Are We Having Fun Yet?

An article with the title “Why Is It A Sin To Read For Fun?” appeared in last week’s edition of Newsweek.

The piece focuses on author Jodi Picoult, who acknowledges that "her popularity, as well as her accessible writing style, means she'll never win a Pulitzer Prize."

The article also includes this quotation from author Zadie Smith: "'...readers fail when they allow themselves to believe that fiction is the thing you relate to and writers the amenable people you seek out when you want to have your own version of the world confirmed and reinforced.”

What do you think? Is writing in an accessible manner really a Pulitzer deterrent? Is Smith's quotation an accurate assessment of why readers choose fiction? And if yes, is there anything wrong in that?

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A Classic Fairy Tale Meant for Grown-ups

Weekend reading recommendation: The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. A kleptomaniac one-handed orphan, the mysterious stranger who professes to be his brother come to claim him, and numerous other characters both lovable and nefarious (many of them both) come together in a 19th century New England setting that has already been compared to Dickens. Like a mash-up of a Grimm's fairy tale and a Stephen King novel, can a book be innocent and sinister at the same time? All we know is that it's immediately engaging and you won't be able to put it down.