I’m a Reader: Here’s My Response
from my email newsletter | issue no. 14 | May 11, 2023
The other day, I came across a draft of my thesis for my masters program. I have a MA in Media Studies, and in 2003 — just a few months before I had my first child (timing is everything!) — I completed an ethnography of a group of children of immigration in one neighborhood in Charlotte, NC and how their media preferences were shaped. Because of guidance from my advisor, I used a framework from a book called Is There a Text in This Class? by the scholar Stanley Fish as a way to frame my own work. In academic circles, Fish is known as one of the main proponents of something called Reader-Response Criticism. The Cliff Notes version of RRC is that the main lens through which to view literature is the reader and his or her experience as opposed focusing on the author. In the introduction to Is There a Text in This Class? Fish writes:
I didn’t connect the dots until I started looking at all these materials again, but, well, this is sort of my manifesto! In fact, this notion of placing readers in the center of the literary ecosystem is what I wrote about in this piece, published on Boston Book Blog (now known as Literary Boston). I guess Stanley Fish’s work never really left my psyche.
The role of the reader: What is it? If you follow me on Instagram or read this newsletter or have poked around my original blog over the past several years, you know that I think the role of the reader is a big one. And more to the point, I believe that publishers are taking note of this. See the rise of everyday readers who are “book influencers” on social media, see the way free-book-in-exchange-for-review has expanded to “regular people” (as opposed to those affiliated with established publications) with NetGalley, and see how celebrities have cleverly become mouthpieces for publishing companies vis a vis their own “book clubs.”
Did someone say “book club”? (Yes, I did.) Ahhhh, book clubs. Everyone — or at least a large percentage of people reading this, I’m guessing — loves a good book club. By my count, I’ve been a part of at least three, but I’ve also circled in and out of others at times. Some have been very defined “groups” (ie with friends) and some have been more like social events for affinity groups. I have never, ever been a part of any book club in the place where I have lived the longest as an adult. (That would be our current residence, but I guess that’s ok because I decided to start a nonprofit called MetroWest Readers Fest and offer up the equivalent of a rather large book club, replete with live author visit, to this region outside of Boston. If you can’t find a book club to join, just create a really big one that requires finding funding via grant applications, is what I like to say. It’s as simple as that! [snaps fingers])
In their stereotypical form, book clubs embrace Stanley Fish’s idea of Reader-Response to the max. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that rarely do book club members explore form, imagery, or literary devices. That’s too much like an English class, and let’s face it: If people want that, they can buy a Master Class subscription or audit a class at a local university. (Or possibly join the Irish Literature Book Club that my dad is coordinating this summer. Or be lucky enough to have a high school English teacher who facilitates virtual book clubs for alumnae. And personally, I like discussing books this way with friends.)
Often, popular “book club books” are extremely plot-driven, and my theory is that 99% of book club discussion revolves around one or both of these questions: “Would I have done the same thing in that situation?” (The Other’s Gold by Elizabeth Ames or An American Marriage by Tayari Jones as two examples.) Similarly, “Does that parent really love that child?” I know that one seems a bit random, but I actually think that line of questioning comes up frequently in book clubs. The memoirs Educated (Tara Westover) and The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls) come to mind as well as the Booker finalist Shuggie Bain (Douglas Stuart) and the uber popular The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett).
Here’s a very timely example: Oprah’s team recently posted this as the first question for her 100th “book club” pick, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano: “Oprah’s question for you is: What would you do if you were facing a life-or-death decision and a family member was estranged from you? Would you reach out or not?” Whether or not she knows it, Oprah has embraced the work of Stanley Fish and Reader-Response Criticism.
If you want to be sort of crude or basic about it, book clubs provide an indirect way to suss out what others think about Big Life Issues. They can also be a great way to make friends. You’re not just learning about and discussing a book; you’re learning about and discussing the people around you. I don’t mean in a gossipy way. Instead, in a curious and interested way. I miss that. To quote one of my favorite novels, Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, “Make of that what you will.”
Latest Reads
*** If you're looking for an easy way to come up with ideas for your next read, you can screenshot or save the graphic below. ***
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
The Past by Tessa Hadley
A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid
Iron Curtain by Vesna Goldsworthy
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
My Name is Leon by Kit de Wall
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
Read This! (i.e. some quick links)
Usually I use this space to link to others' writing. For this newsletter, I'm posting to things that I myself have written — because I write about "readers" a lot!
< "The More We Read Together, Together, Together." "If a book is absolutely spectacular, but isn’t read with the intent to discuss with others, has it earned acclaim in our 'reading' culture?" 2014 blog post about The Children's Act by Ian McEwan and book clubs. (Make sure to watch the Barbie book club parody embedded in the post...)
< "Ambiance: Where Details are Everything." My take on how readers understand and internalize "setting" — using Arizona as a springboard — as published in The Curator, 2012.
< "Not Oprah. Not Reese. Just Me: A Lifely Read and My Top 10 Book Club Picks. " Just as it sounds.
< "Say What?" 2014 blog post on readers parsing what an author "means" as well as the novel Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan.
Am Reading
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
— Harper Lee
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