Tuesday, April 19, 2011
What The Hell, No Jim Harrison?
One of my regular stops on the big, wide world of the world wide web is American Pop Lit. It’s an interesting place to visit and I highly recommend it. Since the latter part of March, King Wenclas has been holding what he calls the All-Time American Writer Tournament. Yes, it’s mighty lofty, but, trust me, the King knows his American Literature so it’s in good hands.
Throughout the various entries and brackets there is a plethora of writers mentioned. Everyone from Sinclair Lewis, Ezra Pound, London, Hemingway, Stein, Oats, Steinbeck; you name it. Hell, even Ayn Rand is bracketed. Stephen King is mentioned, too, and quickly dismissed:
There are no major figures, with the possible exception of Stephen King, who’s a terrible writer. is too limited to have the artistic and intellectual ambition of a Rand or Sontag, has no personality, and breaks no new artistic ground.
I would disagree with every point regarding Stephen King. I’m not a huge King fan simply because I’m not in to his go to genre, but I’ve read enough of his novels and short stories to know that he is indeed a very talented writer and is far from “limited” in the artistic and intellectual department. I’ve always wondered at the animosity towards King from many in the writing community, but that is a whole other topic.
No, what stuck out to me while reading through the various posts of the All-Time American Writer Tournament was that, as far as I can tell, there is not a single mention of Jim Harrison.
To use the current World Wide Web parlance, WTF?
Whatever, I’m still an avid reader of American Pop Lit.
