'Why We Fight'
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Horror's probably somewhere in the middle, thanks to King.
Nope. King, Barker, Straub, and Koontz are considered the "acceptable" faces of horror fiction. But if you ask the average sales clerk at B&N or Borders where they shelve any other horror authors, you will usually get a startled look, and a mumbled statment of "Oh, those books are just mixed in with general fiction".
People who read mysteries are more socially acceptable than people who read SF/Fantasy.
That's definitely true. As a mystery reader, I may be sheepish to pull the book out of my bag, but no one thinks I'm a freak when they see it.
I'll just say there's a reason that bookstores specializing in romance books sell ornamental book covers at the register. (Because nobody likes being seen in public with the covers the publishers pick.)
Yup. How comfortable I am reading any genre book in public (and I read romance, fantasy, mystery, and occasional science fiction) has a lot to do with how classy the cover is.
People who read mysteries are more socially acceptable than people who read SF/Fantasy.
Wow. That's scary.
I think San Francisco may be slanted a bit differently, though, because when I'm using public transport, I see quite a sizeable percentage of adult readers reading William Gibson, or books with what seem to be fantasy genre covers (there are very few Regency romances out there with dragons on the cover).
Gibson is by definition more socially acceptable than anything with dragons on the cover.
I think fantasy readers rank lower than SF readers (please disregard the overlap for purposes of this discussion), and not necessarily higher than romance readers, just different.
Let me just say that popularity with people on public transportation does not equal literary respect.
I remember a funny story about Marion Zimmer Bradley, preparing to publish her first "Sword and Sorceress" collection. She threatened the publisher (was it Don Wollheim? Dunno. Book at home) with mayhem if he put a naked Amazon on the cover of her book. Too bad not all authors have that type of clout, for I'm sure we'd then have prettier covers to enjoy.
I think fantasy readers rank lower than SF readers (please disregard the overlap for purposes of this discussion), and not necessarily higher than romance readers, just different.
But who's doing the ranking? That's what I don't understand.
I don't read most litcrit, in any genre, because I have no reason to assume that some yutz at the NY Times knows any better than the nine year old next door. So I have no problem at all in picking up any book that appeals to me on whatever level, and reading it anywhere; the only cover I've ever been embarrassed about was the cover of one of my own, which had damn-all to do with the book.
So, who is it that's looking at the cover of my Simenon or Chandler or Zelazny short story collection and rating me? I don't get it. Is it the reviewer community?
So, who is it that's looking at the cover of my Simenon or Chandler or Zelazny short story collection and rating me? I don't get it. Is it the reviewer community?
I believe we are talking about People In General. Especially People Like Us, who presumably only read Good Books that don't come in series.