Welcome

Welcome
John William Tuohy lives in Washington DC

I want to make it clear here that I think intelligent arts criticism

 “I want to make it clear here that I think intelligent arts criticism is important and valuable. I want critics, writers, and readers to stake out their aesthetic ground and defend it. But your arguments should make us think deeper and harder about books. Criticism should complicate, not simplify. If you think the above is true, but not worth fretting over, here is why I disagree: lazy stereotypes about reader preferences absolutely contribute to problems in the publishing industry. I know writers of color who’ve been rejected because their writing ‘isn’t black enough for black readers,’ or is ‘too black for white readers.’ It leads publishers to reject manuscripts because ‘readers won’t read translated fiction’ or ‘don’t want more [insert ethnicity] immigrant fiction this year.’ (Then, of course, those same publishers scramble after that same fiction as soon as one book sells well.) It’s part of the reason that women writers are pressured into flowery uplifting covers even if their fiction is dark and gritty. And, more generally, it’s part of why tons of great books that push boundaries and do new, exciting things get passed over, and literature, and readers, suffer for it.”     Lincoln Michel