What Were Those Editors Thinking?

Note to Parade magazine and the "book editors at amazon.com" who put together their version of this fall's top fiction and nonfiction books in today's Sunday newspapers-- it is the year 2012 -- and on your top ten list you have included only two women writers? Can I say I'm shocked - no - but I am pissed. Of all the books out -- only two, both fiction ( The Round House by the seminal Louise Erdrich and T he Diviners by the young adult author Libba Bray) made the mix.  Could there be that no woman wrote a compelling non fiction book -- oh, go to the front page of the New York Times book review and there you'll find not one, but TWO, newly-released nonfiction books that look like must reads: The End of Men And the Rise of Women by Hanna Rosin and V agina: a New Biography by Naomi Wolf. Maybe the titles were too scary or shocking for the "book editors at amazon.com?"  Then, also in the New York Times were two new novels by women.  And even more, all the nonfiction and fiction by women were reviewed by women, something I was gratified to see.    There is an organization, VIDA -- Women in Literary Arts, which tracks and publishes stats on this fairness and parity in the literary arena and kudos to them for continuing to point out that women read, women buy books, but women writers are published less and reviewed less. But I didn't need anyone this Sunday morning to tell me that too often the deck is stacked, the fix in, and yes,  the bias often without malice but bias nevertheless. I wish 'amazon' would remember that one definition of their name is strong woman -- and think of this next time they publish a list like this.   

 
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 12, 2012 21:15
No comments have been added yet.


Caroline Anna Bock Writes

Caroline Bock
Here's to a 2018 with

-stories that matter

-time to read those stories

-drive to write (and finish) my own stories.

Here's a happy, healthy world for all!

--Caroline

...more
Follow Caroline Bock's blog with rss.