tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post116612255253605935..comments2024-03-27T23:28:20.274-04:00Comments on Face to Face: A novelist over a policy wonk anydayagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-1167415855130252872006-12-29T13:10:00.000-05:002006-12-29T13:10:00.000-05:00Oh no, a novelist. What's this world coming to? T...Oh no, a novelist. What's this world coming to? <BR/><BR/>There's nothing wrong with pulp fiction, neither is it mutually exclusive to reading nonfiction or literary fiction. <BR/><BR/>In in time, Shakespeare was considered lowbrow entertainment and yet today we find lasting value in it. <BR/><BR/>I can at least agree with you that political punditry is useless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-1166168868475491102006-12-15T02:47:00.000-05:002006-12-15T02:47:00.000-05:00That's double the case with these policy pundit pu...<I>That's double the case with these policy pundit pulp hashes.</I><BR/><BR/>Right: then the person walks around ignorant but bold, like they've now got a crystal ball. _The Coming Anarchy_, etc.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-1166148103796790962006-12-14T21:01:00.000-05:002006-12-14T21:01:00.000-05:00I know how that one is.I once read a bunch of hist...I know how that one is.<BR/>I once read a bunch of history books on the Byzantine Empire later to find out the author was a hobby-horser.<BR/><BR/>It's fairly telling that even in my given field which is tangentially related to history I couldn't give you a full accounting of what's good and bad.<BR/><BR/>Oh and here's something scary. One of my favorite novels is "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Marquez. Ostensibly a rather high end peice of lit, but apparently it ended up on Oprah's Book Club next to whatever load she's read and suddenly it's the "It" book to read, and new editions come out with "Oprah's Book Club" permanently affixed to the cover. It doesn't bug me so much that it's been popularized, but more the fact that now there are legions of marginally intelligent hausfrau who when I mention my favorite books proceed to give me a mangled account of the meaning of the book like they've now got a double Master's in Latin American fiction and Columbian History.<BR/><BR/>It really makes me wonder sometimes if we should be encouraging people to read with the byline that you're now "educated" because you read a book about something or by someone.<BR/><BR/>That's double the case with these policy pundit pulp hashes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com