Arts: Not as Nice as You Think

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Books Not as Nice as You Think On Barbara Kingsolver and the problems of socially responsible novels. By Michelle Dean Posted Friday, Nov 02, 2012, at 03:10 PM ET Mention Barbara Kingsolver, and the first reference my mind coughs up is not the experience of reading any of her books, including her latest novel, Flight Behavior. In the third season of The Sopranos, Carmela Soprano visits her daughter Meadow at college. The two aren't estranged, exactly, but Meadow's foray into the Ivy League has changed all of her points of reference, and an off-balance Carmela is scrambling to re-establish contact. "I'm reading the new Barbara Kingsolver!" she says, brightly. Cue Meadow, sighing and fighting eye-roll: "I so wish I had time for fiction." As always, David Chase's laser wit cuts in several different directions. That moment is not a manifesto about literature; it's a comment on a teenager's pretensions, a mother's grasping. But his choice of Kingsolver is right on. In addition to being a giant best-seller, Kingsolver is the winner of a National Book Award, the Orange Prize, and the National Humanities Medal, and is a regular on the lists of other prizes and honors. But she is not, typically, viewed as playing on the same field as many of the English-speaking-world's greatest authors. This is not simply a matter of gender; Kingsolver is rarely even mentioned alongside Zadie Smith, or Alice Munro, or even her likeliest boon companion among today's "serious" female novelists, Ann Patchett. We could quarrel over whether or not this is a side effect of her acceptance of the scarlet O. But surely we all ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate How Fast Can the Obama Campaign Spend Your Salary? Why the "Rape Thing" Haunts Republicans Sandy's Toll on Medical Research	Advertisement
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