suffianr
27th November 2003, 07:18
This might be old news, but it's still news; a case of upper-class puritanical snobs dismissing one of the world's most prolific writers is a cause for concern! If they can do this to someone like Stephen King, imagine what happens to leftist writers:
King doesn't need this crown
By J. PEDER ZANE, Staff Writer
Dear Stephen King: I am not surprised by your delight in being named the recipient of the National Book Foundation 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
The honor, given by the organization that bestows the prestigious National Book Awards each year, is one of the most coveted an author can receive. It must be heady to see your name listed next to other luminaries who have received the medal, including John Updike, Toni Morrison, Arthur Miller and Philip Roth.
Nevertheless, I am writing to ask you to do something that only one in a million in your position would even contemplate. I am beseeching you to perform a truly heroic act that could influence the direction of American culture. Respectfully, I am urging you to decline this award.
Let me state upfront, I do not agree with those who dismiss your work. I think you take your writing seriously. I believe you strive for excellence. Those who contend that you write schlock have probably never read you. It is because you care about good writing that I hope you will take my plea seriously.
We both know that the literary establishment has never taken your work seriously. You have never been a finalist for the National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize. You are not on anybody's short list for the Nobel Prize. There is no broad movement arguing that you belong in the pantheon of contemporary writers.
You may think that you have suffered gross mistreatment from literary tastemakers, who snobbishly dismiss anyone who write s thrillers, science fiction and tales of horror. You may think that this medal represents long overdue recognition for your better than advertised body of work.
But even if you believe you deserve this honor, we can both agree that you are not receiving it for the same reason as Updike, Morrison, Miller and Roth. We both know that the scales haven't suddenly fallen from the eyes of literati, who now recognize your genius. I hope we can admit that non-aesthetic concerns are at work here.
Read the rest of it here (http://www.newsobserver.com/zane/story/2886325p-2659715c.html)
King doesn't need this crown
By J. PEDER ZANE, Staff Writer
Dear Stephen King: I am not surprised by your delight in being named the recipient of the National Book Foundation 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
The honor, given by the organization that bestows the prestigious National Book Awards each year, is one of the most coveted an author can receive. It must be heady to see your name listed next to other luminaries who have received the medal, including John Updike, Toni Morrison, Arthur Miller and Philip Roth.
Nevertheless, I am writing to ask you to do something that only one in a million in your position would even contemplate. I am beseeching you to perform a truly heroic act that could influence the direction of American culture. Respectfully, I am urging you to decline this award.
Let me state upfront, I do not agree with those who dismiss your work. I think you take your writing seriously. I believe you strive for excellence. Those who contend that you write schlock have probably never read you. It is because you care about good writing that I hope you will take my plea seriously.
We both know that the literary establishment has never taken your work seriously. You have never been a finalist for the National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize. You are not on anybody's short list for the Nobel Prize. There is no broad movement arguing that you belong in the pantheon of contemporary writers.
You may think that you have suffered gross mistreatment from literary tastemakers, who snobbishly dismiss anyone who write s thrillers, science fiction and tales of horror. You may think that this medal represents long overdue recognition for your better than advertised body of work.
But even if you believe you deserve this honor, we can both agree that you are not receiving it for the same reason as Updike, Morrison, Miller and Roth. We both know that the scales haven't suddenly fallen from the eyes of literati, who now recognize your genius. I hope we can admit that non-aesthetic concerns are at work here.
Read the rest of it here (http://www.newsobserver.com/zane/story/2886325p-2659715c.html)