Comments on: But Hey, Who’s Keeping Score?

By: Don

Don — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:00:49 +0000

My sense is that it's about the question of who is setting the tone for the current scene. I don't think that literature is as unified, even if we break it down by national boundaries (which, in a way, is a nonsensical distinction in the contemporary world), as it was, say, in the era of Henry James. I think that to a large extent, the number one role, for the late 90s and early 00s was held by J.K. Rowling: I think she really sparked a renaissance of interest in young adult literature. That's not to say that she was the best writer of that period, but I think that a lot of what's on the bookshelves today might not have existed had Harry Potter never been written. I expect that she'll cast a long shadow over contemporary fiction for years to come.

By: Anne R. Allen

Anne R. Allen — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 01:15:40 +0000

Number one by whose standards, Mr. McCrum? I think the whole "top-dog" mentality is terribly primal-male: chest-pounding and Tarzan-yelling in the jungle. (I notice no female writer was mentioned in McCrum's entire article.)

We still adore Jane Austen. Are Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood somehow lessened by her greatness? Oh, pu-leez, boys.

By: amyg

amyg — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:21:18 +0000

i get where mccrum's coming from, but i can't buy it (or maybe just don't want to). it feels a bit like saying, "my favorite ice cream is…") obviously, a much higher-brow way of saying it, but still how can you name only one???