My impression of literary fiction is that most "contemporary" novels could have taken place almost any time since about the 1970s. Today, 2026, what is it that every person on the planet does every few minutes? We look at our phones. At work, at play, in bed, in our cars.
In a contemporary novel, if the characters are not touching their phones every few minutes, how contemporary is it?
In a contemporary novel, if the characters are not touching their phones every few minutes, how contemporary is it?