I need to apologise - this is another piece on the death of the novel. On the death of the novel, but also on a fractured, stupefied publishing industry. More than that, it's a piece on the decline in the public's investment in literature as a cultural phenomenon.
But before I begin, it could be useful to try to offer a definition of what I mean by ‘literature' here. Zadie Smith characterises it simply as writing that engages with the culture - as opposed to that which doesn't. It's the kind of writing which Mark de Silva, in an essay for 3:AM Magazine, calls ‘art fiction' - as opposed to ‘leisure fiction'. I am talking about writing that challenges, that is more than entertainment, that makes demands of its reader. Which isn't to say literature can't be easy or entertaining or without demands entirely ... You know when the punchline to a joke needs explaining? It seems we have arrived at an equivalently awkward stage in the history of literature.