Thursday, September 16, 2010

Can A Woman Be A Great American Novelist?

Book2Book -  Wednesday 15 Sep 2010

The literary debate of the fall is the tempest everyone is now calling, illogically, "Franzenfreude." The storm, summarized here by Ruth Franklin in TNR online, has encompassed a debate about the place of commercial fiction and whether Jonathan Franzen's work is overrated. But I'm interested less in arguments about the relative merits of Franzen's latest novel, Freedom—I'm halfway through and find it artful and engaging—and more in the deeper question raised by the debate: Namely, why women are so infrequently heralded as great novelists.

Slate

Photo - Toni Morrison - Jeff Christensen

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