My problem with this argument, Miker, is that the vox populi
doesn't determine what gets published. Editors do. And they
don't take votes. So I fail to see how that's democratic. For
instance, when Barry Gifford reintroduced Thompson and Goodis
to the world via his Black Lizard press, he did so because he
liked Thompson and Goodis, not because the populi were
raising their collective vox.
That's not taking into account financial considerations.
Sometimes writers (or writers' estates) who deserve to be
reprinted can't agree terms with publishers, so negotiations
grind to a halt. How does that fit in with the vox populi?
That's more a case of the vox accountanti. Ditto with
tracking down estates. Sometimes it's too expensive and/or
time-consuming.
And what about the single voice, the vox populus? J K
Rowling, for instance. I remember Dodi Smith's I CAPTURE THE
CASTLE going into several new editions after JK said it was
her favourite book as a child.
Al
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Robison
To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 2:22 PM
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: Spillane and
misogyny
Al Guthrie wrote:
Democratic? Can you explain that, Miker.
Most
editorial decisions are made by no more than a
handful
of people.
**************
I'm not sure what you mean. I'm not sure
where
editorial decision comes into the picture.
Although
I've snipped my end of the post now, the gist of
what
I was saying is that the definition of
literature,
defined as many people reading a work many years
after
its inception, is democratic because the
definition
depends on vox populi, and not some elitist
critic's
opinion.
miker
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