Comments on: Pretentious much?

By: Kevin A. Lewis

Kevin A. Lewis — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 18:20:30 +0000

That was frankly what chased me away from Arundati Roy’s first (and massively acclaimed) book-the feeling that she’d been taking a seminar on Creative Exposition and was devoting large chunks of space to info-dump description just to impress her fellow attendees. (Even in this she was comparatively restrained alongside Thomas Wolfe) I think a lot of editors interpret this as Passionate Devotion To Your Craft… Reminds me more of those wide-range hip-hop divas who can’t get through a holiday cover of Frosty The Snowman without a long intermezzo of histrionic wails to demonstrate that they really, really, BELIEVE in this song!!!! Which is why I avoid Literary Fiction like the plague, both at home and in my secluded mountaintop laboratory…

By: Miriam

Miriam — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 14:29:02 +0000

Happens more often than you’d think, especially with established, successful authors. Will steer clear of that one.

By: Tony Healey

Tony Healey — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 09:14:25 +0000

Telegraph Avenue. I waited ages to read it, and couldn’t get through the first 100 pages. It’s like somebody let Chabon off the leash; watching helplessly as he barrelled into a homeware store, smashing everything in sight. What it needed was for somebody to rein him in. Perhaps he’s reached that point in his career where an editor simply has no real input. Very sad.