Observatio

I noticed that the five novels in the New York Times' list of the Ten Best Books of 2007 are all written by men. This is veddy veddy interesting because, as we all know, women are the primary book buyers in the U.S., and for the most part fiction is geared toward them. Am I wrong? Maybe you have not heard of Oprah?

I haven't read any of these five books yet, but I think there is an unspoken guideline being practiced in our culture. Male authors are the literary lions, female authors are the big sellers. Don't point to Grisham and King and Patterson and that lot to shoot my theory down; I'm talking generally. With some exceptions, men get the artistics kudos and women get the sales. That makes it hard for writers of both sexes if you think about it. If you're a man writing literary material (like me), the slots available for high art are few because those books don't do very well. If you're a woman writing the same, it's very tough to be taken seriously. If you're a man writing commercial novels, you're probably stuck with thrillers, suspense, or military because the gals have relationship stories covered. Chick lit changed everything.

I think the Times was making a statement, but I have to ask, why are men and women so different when it comes to what they read and write? Food for thought.