more fun than writers who write about women finding empowerment through quilting?That's the question of the day.
This came up in a bar, naturally, in a confab of writers - some crime, some literary, and some downright criminal. Ad Hudler, literary novelist, admitted to homicidal ambitions. Why?
Because crime writers, he said, have more fun than literary writers.
I know a few literary writers, like Soren Palmer who's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize (you go, Soren). These are kudos rarely handed out to those of us who dabble in murder but Soren, aside from the dour Scandinavian name his folks hung on him, is an enjoyable guy to hang with, as is Mr. Hudler.
So, if it's true that crime writers have more fun, why is that? Following are three theories, the first of which is my favorite but it is almost assuredly bullshit.
Theory #1: We write away our demons. Yeah, it's all like poetic and all, but as much as I like it I don't buy it.
Theory #2: Crime writers are tap dancers. Elmore Leonard isn't wrestling with any deep philosophical conundrums. He's writing about bad people in bad places. Those of us who write crime are, at bottom, trying to entertain the reader, not enlighten them. So it's no wonder that we're entertaining. As long as our standards are low and the bar is open.
Theory #3: Literary writers come, mostly, from academia and everyone knows that academia is a bog of petty politics, back-stabbing, and professional envy. Someone smarter than I am (and we're talking multitudes here, people) said that the politics in academia are so brutal because the rewards are so small. I know one professor at Duke who cannot stand Reynolds Price, mostly because Price is wildly successful by literary standards. So it stands to reason that if you get a group of literary writers in a room together, the similarity to a snake pit is not coincidental. No wonder so many of those books make me want to take a bath with my toaster.
That's what I think. Anyone else want to weigh in on why we have more fun than literary novelists? I'm open for your theories, the more outrageous the better.
Talk to me.
8 comments:
We drink more.
Actually, I think lit writers drink just as much as crime writers, and all writers drink more or less depending on whether or not they have a day job.
Though, given the rewards, I suppose more lit writers have day jobs, and thus drink less. Which makes me wrong, and JD right.
I don't go for #1 because good writers, no matter their genre, are writing out their demons. And in fact I imagine a lot of lit writers are dealing with them more than crime writers.
#2's a possibility.
However, I lay odds on #3. It's not an absolute statement--plenty of academic writers (most of them professors) I've met were laid back and cool, but the back-stabbing and envy are a large part of the reason I worked hard to avoid teaching for a living.
We have better sex. And we don't get hung up on poetic, literary ways of saying "blowjob".
Oh, and we're more crass.
Crime writers have more fun because they don't have to spend all day on their knees fellating a handful of other hacks who're convinced they have a lock on taste to give their work the thumbs up.
Maybe we need to have a touch of the amoral about us, and that is a definite precursor to all kinds of fun.
Hey David, would you be interested in coming over to Crimespace and cross-posting this entry?
Damn, that's the closest I've ever come to spam. Hope you don't mind.
Daniel,
Sure, I'll be happy to. What do I have to do?
Just join up. It's one of the easiest signups I've ever had to deal with. Then post in the forum or blog over there.
Hey, everyone else is doing it. :)
(BTW, Crimespace is my new project/website/thingy)
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