Humboldt's Gift | 
Want to see the angriest Ann Patchett has maybe ever been? Check out her rebuttal to a recent NYT op ed by David Brooks suggesting that literary fiction has lost its edge: https://youtu.be/tPrH7kqGKCY?si=S0lRArX-JaRQyu3y
I thought maybe it was an overreaction, and then I read the article and...nope, she's 100% right. Brooks' take is embarrassingly lazy. I'll sum up before linking to it, but I can't recommend Patchett's response highly enough 👇
Billypar 1. He talks about how literary fiction has lost ground to genre fiction in recent years (yes, accurate). 2. He says the too-easy explanation is that attention spans have dwindled (actually, I could be persuaded this is partly true). 3. Here's the bombshell...the real reason is that authors nowadays are too worried about offending sensibilities to make good art (really David Brooks, what an original take, I never heard of this idea before) 👇 (edited) 2mo
Billypar Then he makes it apparent that he hasn't read much of any modern literary fiction, which is where Ann Patchett takes him to task. It's funny how Brooks must be aware of the nostalgia trap, but he still falls into it. Even if we take his point that some authors self-censor too much out of fear of being canceled, every era has its own version of mediocrity, so if you want to compare that to old classics, of course you're going to see a decline 👇 2mo
Billypar And Patchett rightly points out that not every 'classic' ages well either. Okay, rant over 😋 I'm still linking to it if you want to form your own opinion: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/literature-books-novelists.html 2mo
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TheBookHippie Good grief. 🤦🏻♀️ is there trash being put out -well yes -is hoover trash - well sorry, but in my opinion yes. But there IS amazing literature being written. Amazing poets, art books and remember some classics were hated, and didn‘t sell till long after the author was dead. So no literature isn‘t dead, and yes there are still readers of it 🙃😅🥴 (edited) 2mo
TheBookHippie Many authors being banned are writing even more 🙂 2mo
TheBookHippie I agree with all your points 😅 2mo
Tamra Absolutely there is fantastic literature being written, just as there is entertainment. It is no different than any other era in that respect. You have to make the effort to find and actually read it. 2mo
Leftcoastzen Awesome! 2mo
squirrelbrain What a fantastic post! 2mo
AmyG I just saw this. Never been a fan of Brooks. He is an “arrogant know-it-all”. Team Ann!!! 2mo
Blueberry Well spoken Ann. 2mo
Amiable I can‘t read the NYT column because I‘m not a subscriber. But Patchett‘s response is perfection. I‘m a reader of literary fiction —I don‘t read genre fiction (if that‘s what he‘s calling romance or fantasy or the “romantsy” stuff). Yes, there‘s a lot of the genre books out there. But I never have a problem finding great literary fiction to read. Methinks Brooks just isn‘t looking in the right place— like, at a bookstore. 🙄 2mo
S3V3N Kudos to her! 2mo
SamAnne I thought his column was shallow and ridiculous. So much great literary fiction out there. And frankly, so much “genre fiction” out there that is literary! N.K. Jemison!! Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark! STJ‘s The Only Good Indians!!!! 2mo
Deblovestoread I didn‘t read the article but always listen to Ann on IG and thought her New to You was on point. She‘s fantastic! 2mo
dabbe @Amiable Here's a link to the article if you'd like to read it! https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/literature-books-novelists.html?unloc... 2mo
Billypar @TheBookHippie The irony of all ironies is that he seems bugged that the cultural conversation has shifted away from literary fiction, yet, you're David Brooks, one of the most prominent cultural critics there is, so if you really care about getting literary fiction back in the mainstream conversation, maybe, I don't know, read a few actual modern books/authors and start writing about them? Lol. 2mo
Billypar @Tamra Yeah, it's funny how he mentions at one point that people still love The Great Gatsby and Jane Austen novels, taking that as evidence that people have sophisticated taste, so if they're not reading modern stuff, it must be the fault of the authors. Instead of the fact that maybe the reason people love those classics is because they're literally handed them in high school and college. After that, you're on your own to find the good books! 2mo
Billypar @AmyG Totally. I think one very neglected intellectual trait is knowing when you don't know enough about a topic to keep your mouth shut 🤐 2mo
Billypar @Amiable It's just a weird argument to say that the genre vs literary shift is due to a recent failure to deliver on the literary side when so many book sales are driven by sci-fi, romance, and mysteries/ thrillers that were optioned. People aren't going to the movies to see dramas as much anymore, and it's not because we lost the ability to make The Godfather. The business model totally changed. 2mo
Billypar @SamAnne Yeah, this sort of argument always gets framed as: 'are things worse now or not?', but rarely touches on what has improved. Even if we have less shared books that everyone reads and discusses, we have more choices than any other time period. That goes for literary fiction, all genres, and genre-blending of every combination. That variety of ideas and modes of expression is something no one should take for granted these days. 2mo
Billypar @Leftcoastzen @squirrelbrain @Blueberry @S3V3N @Deblovestoread @dabbe Yeah, she's amazing: I'm almost more interested when authors talk about their reading habits rather than their writing, and she was definitely responding to the article as a devoted reader. 2mo
TheBookHippie @Billypar read a current novel maybe 🤣🤣🤣😅🤦🏻♀️😬 is key. Oy. 2mo
Tamra @dabbe thank you! 😘 2mo
Tamra I would be very curious to see any response from David Brooks. He enjoys stirring the pot. (edited) 2mo
dabbe @Billypar 🩵🎯🩵 2mo
dabbe @Tamra YW! 😘 2mo
Suet624 I saw her video when it came out and you‘ve hit the nail on the head. She was angry and it was only her southern charm that kept her from swearing. 😊 2mo
Billypar @Suet624 Ha- totally! I understand why: it's upsetting because people will read an article like that because of the headline/author and believe it if they don't already read literary fiction. 2mo
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