Diana E. Sheets wrote an article on her blog literarygulag that was printed in, among other places, the Whittier Daily News and the Pasadena Star-News. This article entitled "The Demise of the Great American Novel," argues that because the publishing industry cares about profits over all else, and that it is a global enterprise, the Great American Novel of this age cannot be written.
Great Prose Still Exists
Sheets cites two authors who are still writing great prose that engages with current American society- Tom Wolfe and Phillip Roth. Never mind Cormac McCarthy, Don Delillo and Thomas Pynchon are still writing, to say nothing of non-American authors (Salman Rushdie, Doris Lessing) and non-fiction writers (Gore Vidal, Bob Woodward). Sheets says that the publishing industry, being a global enterprise, places emphasis on "literary tofu". She laments that novels telling the American story are gone, and what is left is "sanctimonious multiculturalism devoid of truth or excellence...entirely derivative and resistant to telling our story."
Great Prose Isn't Always Popular or Infamous
What the publishing industry also looks for are scandalous books, says Sheets. She cites the fabricated memoir of James Frey A Million Little Pieces and O.J. Simpson's controversial If I Did It, the likes of which, says Sheets, "have been sold to the buyer as bona fide literature" for more than a generation. Maybe Sheets has only paid attention to the controversial and scandalous books of the last generation, because there have been plenty of praise-worthy books written in the last generation.
Also, does Sheets really believe that we will not have a Great American Novel this generation because the most well known books are infamous and devoid of any claim to be great? Does she really believe that the Great American Novel of this age will appear on the best-seller list? It may, it may not. Moby Dick was a financial flop when it was first published and took more than half a century to be recognized as a great piece of literature.
Maybe Diana Sheets should look at the library shelf more closely and find that Great Novel. It might be there. Someone may be writing it now. Sheets also laments the appraisal of comic books as great literature ("Graphic Novel" she says is a word literati use to elevate the comic book to undeserved heights). Maybe the next Great American Novel is, or will be, in the form of a graphic novel?
Robert O'Connor - I am a professional amateur. Everything I do, I do it out of love, not money. I'm also flat broke.
