Categorizing Fiction: The Best Fiction Always Fits Somewhere
In the last three weeks I’ve noticed a number of different kinds of discussions about the issue of categories for fiction. One of the lesser known instances was Paul Jessup’s public announcement that he was leaving genre fiction. It’s not clear why he made the announcement, except some vague claim about the stifling-ness and argumentative […]
Guest Post: A Quest for Treasures in the Stacks by Cindy Young-Turner
The bankruptcy of Borders puts another nail in the coffin of the big box bookstores. As a reader, there’s nothing better than browsing the stacks and looking for new books to discover. I admit, I love the sheer volume of books available in places like Borders and Barnes and Noble, and the combination of books […]
Question: What interests you about military science fiction?
As many of you know, I’ve been teaching The Forever War by Joe Haldeman in my Survey in American Literature course at the University of Florida. Yesterday was the last day of discussion, which led me to wonder what so many science fiction readers find appealing about military SF. I wouldn’t consider myself a big […]
Book Clubs: Stereotyping Men Based on Football Commercials and Sexism
I don’t know why we still perpetuate the mythologies of maleness in this culture. We know they’re mostly bullshit, in part because today’s society is drastically different from the one in which such myths were formed. But we keep pushing them out there, repeating them in our heads, our news and TV shows, our blog […]
Get Your Parenting Off My Metaphorical Child (Young Adult Lit B.S.)
Imagine for a moment that I am happily married and have a lovely 12-year-old child who likes doing jumps and learning tricks on his BMX bike. Because we don’t have billions of dollars, we can’t afford to buy our imaginary child the best BMX bikes, but we’re very fortunate to live in a town with […]
Writing Young Adult Fantasy: The Challenge of Darkness
How dark is too dark for young adult readers? How dark is too dark for a young adult character? Not long ago, I responded to a Wall Street Journal post by Meghan Cox Gurdon which argued that YA fiction has become exceedingly dark. I didn’t agree with the author’s assessment, largely because it was a “conservative” […]