The FranzenFreude Twitter Explosion!

In addition to my new venture into the world of blogging, I've also recently joined Twitter. I know, I'm officially three years behind the rest of the world. I held out because, well, to be blunt... it seemed like a purely narcissistic exercise, contained to 140 characters or less. Embarrassingly, the only reason I joined was to follow update's from a friend's sister's trainwreck of a wedding (there were feathers and balloons and vows that included "will you take this beautiful bride" and "her special day"... I won't say more, because it might become my novel someday, and I'll owe Maria some royalty money). But as it turns out, I picked the perfect time to join, thanks to the firestorm of the last few days known as Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult kicking ass and taking names all over the Twitterverse with regards to coverage of women in the reviews by the New York Times.

I'd be lying if I said I spend much time thinking about what does and doesn't make the pages of a newspaper I don't even read. Especially lately when it comes to reading, I pick things I like and don't spend a lot of time thinking about what "category" they fit into, whether it be genre or literary vs commercial fiction. And I've consumed more than my fair share of stereotypical "chick lit"... you know, the books with bubblegum pink covers that are invariably about some desperately-seeking-love-and-glam-accessories woman traipsing around Manhattan in high heels of masochistic proportions. But I was genuinely surprised that anyone would lump writers like Picoult and Weiner into that category.

I've only read one Picoult book and wasn't wowed. To be fair, it was My Sister's Keeper, and I may have fallen victim to my own high expectations of the book after all the raves I'd heard. Curtis Sittenfeld met the same fate for me with Prep. (Who, I might add, fits oddly into this debate since Sittenfeld IS such a literary darling.) But Sittenfeld redeemed herself for me with American Wife, and I hope I can pick up another Jodi Picoult that will change my perception. But, putting personal taste aside, her books are universally known for being thought provoking and getting at themes of life, death and redemption that those in the "New York glamazon-wanna-be" genre wouldn't touch with a ten inch liner pencil. Yes, it's commercial, but it's commercial because it's readable and relevant. Is that such a bad thing?

And I'll shout loud and proud that I'm a HUGE Jennifer Weiner fan. Her books are some of my favorites, the ones I leave under my bedside table because I want to read them over and over. The characters are like friends, relatable and, most importantly, REAL, no matter the ridiculous situation that Weiner had presented them with this time around. They're emotional, irrational, and flawed... and fabulous because of, not in spite of, that.

Because I'm so personally invested, it stings a bit to hear hear her work denigrated as "chick lit." Yes, it's about women, likely FOR women, and touches on "feminine" themes... motherhood, romantic relationships, bonds between sisters and daughters. But are books that center on masculine themes "jock lit"? Male authors don't seem to get pigeonholed as easily as female writers, which is really the whole point of this entire twittercize. (A stretch? Probably.)

I wish commercial success and critical acclaim didn't have to appear to be diametrically opposed in the publishing world. Does being taken seriously have to equal taking yourself, and your readers, TOO seriously? To the point of coming off as elitist or, dare I say it, snobbish? I used to be the type of person that read LIT'rature and wanted to deconstruct it, understand it, make a brilliant point about it. Now, I just want to enjoy it. And by enjoy, I mean have something that captures my imagination and my emotions, whether its fleeting (as with the more glamazon iterations of "chick lit") or more enduring, like I see in my favorite authors: Ernest Hemingway, Khaled Hosseni, Wally Lamb, Nick Horby, Barbara Kingsolver and yes, Jennifer Weiner. And I think it's from a place of maturity where I can say that sometimes, I just want to read what I LIKE, not what's supposed to be EXCELLENT. And for me, for now, that's good enough.