Battle of the authors: Jodi Picoult vs. Jonathan Franzen

The author of My Sister's Keeper says that female writers are being ignored by the literary establishment in favor of "white, male literary darlings." Fair point?

Are female authors being ignored in favor of white, male authors, like Johnathan Franzen?
(Image credit: TIME magazine)

A feud is brewing between bestselling author Jodi Picoult and the literary establishment. The My Sister's Keeper author has accused literary critics of shunning best-selling female writers while lavishing praise upon "white male literary darlings." The writer singled out Jonathan Franzen as a symbol of this double standard after his new novel Freedom was reviewed twice by The New York Times in the same week. In Her Shoes author Jennifer Weiner also weighed in, claiming she and Picoult were routinely ignored by the literary establishment even though they tackle similar topics to supposedly heavyweight novelists like Franzen. Do Picoult and Weiner make a valid case? (Watch Franzen discuss the important of books)

Women's writing deserves a better deal: Any female writer or reader is familiar with the "consistent devaluing of women's experiences" by the literary establishment, says Anna North at Jezebel. A woman's "domestic fiction" is a man's "sweeping family saga" in the eyes of most critics. "Female-dominated literary forms" like those written by Picoult ought to "get some respect."

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