Middlebrow? What's so shameful about writing a book and hoping it sells?

Criticising publishing’s ‘cult of the middlebrow’ is not only snobby, it’s also a surefire way to sell more of these popular, well-written books

Reading the recent Sydney Review of Books essay, Could Not Put It Down, it’s difficult to work out who its author, Beth Driscoll, intended to insult the most: readers for liking middlebrow books, writers for having the temerity to write them, or publishers for bowing to the demons of commerce by printing them.

Throughout history, writers, musicians and artists have created works of art to keep the wolf from the door and satisfy their paymasters. Without that commercial imperative, there would be no Michelangelo, Mozart, Shakespeare or Dickens. What is so shameful about writing a book and hoping it sells well?

Continue reading...