I am a literary fiction writer myself and yes, everything you say here is true. But the story about who killed literary fiction in America is much uglier. It's not only the executives from the Big Five who never read fiction themselves. It's also all the boards, jury members, cultural gatekeepers of most publishing houses, including medium and small, which in the past used to publish the quality literary fiction the big ones refused too. The ugly truth is that, after 2015, all the above started to publish and/or reward the kind of ideological kitsch I've only seen represented by "socialist realist" literature in former communist countries. Have you looked at who got major prizes between 2016 and 2022? Not a single straight white man in the entire Anglosphere. Do you realize what that means? It means that all the people in key positions in the book industry were guided entirely by ideology. Not only literary greatness wasn't a question, but one couldn't even get close to a big publisher without the "correct" identity, never mind ideology. Stupidity, cowardice, luxury beliefs, moral righteousness, all of these killed literary fiction in America.
You make many strong and accurate observations about the state of literary fiction in the Anglosphere. I have stopped reading most fiction in English for these reasons. You have, in my opinion, rightly given the name cultural gatekeepers to the culprits. They are not just killing literature, but the humanities in general. Like a suicide cult, college programs discriminate against qualified applicants for purely ideological reasons even as the applicant pool dwindles. Those who are accepted are subjected to a hostile and unedifying experience. Beyond the immediate problems identified by yourself and the authors, the pool of consumers who value the arts diminishes as a result. NPR has lost their most well-heeled and loyal listeners for the same reasons. I have been reviewing everything that I pay for with the goal of liberating my mind and my wallet from the predictable, ordinary, boring, and conformist. I expect to save more than $1,000/year on subscriptions alone.
I would add a quick plug for the small presses specializing in literature in translation, which also do great work in a tough market--operations like Archipelago Books (one of my favorites), Deep Vellum, or Open Letter Books.
Interesting read. Wondering if there’s any parallel with music and to what extent the industry there has already undergone this transformation, come out the other side, and whether there’s anything to learn from that here. From my narrow observations as an outsider, consolidation there has long since taken place. There seems to be an increasing number of creative independent labels pushing boundaries, plus established artists leaving labels to build their own platforms and bring music directly to their fans. The overall search costs seem too high from a listener standpoint, and the ability to break through as an artist has an even higher hurdle.
A hundred years ago — heck, even fifty — serious narrative art was very rare outside of print. Many of those who would in earlier days have been novelists are now screen writers and directors, and they are producing fantastic work. In the face of such competition, I’m kind of impressed there are as many as five big publishers still kicking.
I am a literary fiction writer myself and yes, everything you say here is true. But the story about who killed literary fiction in America is much uglier. It's not only the executives from the Big Five who never read fiction themselves. It's also all the boards, jury members, cultural gatekeepers of most publishing houses, including medium and small, which in the past used to publish the quality literary fiction the big ones refused too. The ugly truth is that, after 2015, all the above started to publish and/or reward the kind of ideological kitsch I've only seen represented by "socialist realist" literature in former communist countries. Have you looked at who got major prizes between 2016 and 2022? Not a single straight white man in the entire Anglosphere. Do you realize what that means? It means that all the people in key positions in the book industry were guided entirely by ideology. Not only literary greatness wasn't a question, but one couldn't even get close to a big publisher without the "correct" identity, never mind ideology. Stupidity, cowardice, luxury beliefs, moral righteousness, all of these killed literary fiction in America.
You make many strong and accurate observations about the state of literary fiction in the Anglosphere. I have stopped reading most fiction in English for these reasons. You have, in my opinion, rightly given the name cultural gatekeepers to the culprits. They are not just killing literature, but the humanities in general. Like a suicide cult, college programs discriminate against qualified applicants for purely ideological reasons even as the applicant pool dwindles. Those who are accepted are subjected to a hostile and unedifying experience. Beyond the immediate problems identified by yourself and the authors, the pool of consumers who value the arts diminishes as a result. NPR has lost their most well-heeled and loyal listeners for the same reasons. I have been reviewing everything that I pay for with the goal of liberating my mind and my wallet from the predictable, ordinary, boring, and conformist. I expect to save more than $1,000/year on subscriptions alone.
At least you are saving some money :)
I would add a quick plug for the small presses specializing in literature in translation, which also do great work in a tough market--operations like Archipelago Books (one of my favorites), Deep Vellum, or Open Letter Books.
I've enjoyed the books I've read from Restless Books: https://restlessbooks.org/
And the New Yorker wrote about Fitzcarraldo: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/07/08/fitzcarraldo-editions-makes-challenging-literature-chic
Thank you both so much for sharing these recommendations! I had not heard of Restless Books myself, but I will be checking out their catalog shortly.
Mila, thank you--I know Fitzcarraldo from some short stays in the UK, but I am not familiar with Restless Books. I will look them up!
Interesting read. Wondering if there’s any parallel with music and to what extent the industry there has already undergone this transformation, come out the other side, and whether there’s anything to learn from that here. From my narrow observations as an outsider, consolidation there has long since taken place. There seems to be an increasing number of creative independent labels pushing boundaries, plus established artists leaving labels to build their own platforms and bring music directly to their fans. The overall search costs seem too high from a listener standpoint, and the ability to break through as an artist has an even higher hurdle.
A hundred years ago — heck, even fifty — serious narrative art was very rare outside of print. Many of those who would in earlier days have been novelists are now screen writers and directors, and they are producing fantastic work. In the face of such competition, I’m kind of impressed there are as many as five big publishers still kicking.