Reality literature

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books typically connotes the
idea of a gathering of book lovers in a celebration of literature.
A highlighted date in the calendars of bibliophiles all over Los
Angeles County, the festival often boasts a carnival atmosphere of
booths and entertainment for children and panels for adults, all
while celebrating the splendor of the written word. But this year,
there appears to be a distinct shift in thematic trends in the
writers presented. With a panel of speakers lined up to discuss
topics such as, “Interrogation or Torture: Human Rights After
9/11″ and “Outsourcing Democracy: Can it Work?”
it seems that the Festival of Books is slowly morphing into the Los
Angeles Forum for Political Views. “Among the cadre of people
who write nonfiction for the public, there is a fascination with
our present political divisions,” said Joyce Appleby, a UCLA
professor of history. A quick browse through The New York Times
best-sellers list appears to confirm Appleby’s suggestion
that disparate political ideas have an increased role in the
writing world. In the months approaching the 1996 election,
political books were nowhere to be found on best-seller lists. Yet
in the months leading up to and following the tumult of the last
presidential showdown in 2004, political nonfiction books have
taken up between 25 percent and 50 percent of the list. In fact,
Sept. 11, 2001 marked the beginning of a dramatic influx in the
writing of and demand for political literature. “Prior to
(Sept. 11, 2001), it’s not that these political books were
not being written, but they were not at the front of
bookshops,” said Tariq Ali, who will be speaking at
Saturday’s panel, “America Looks Forward: Tapping the
Politics of Fear.” “One of the side effects has been a
desire to read, (and) the fact that Michael Moore and Noam Chompski
have been on the best-seller lists is an implication that people
have become dissatisfied with information sources like Fox News.
People are genuinely trying to educate themselves.” If the
nation is currently undergoing a hunger for political information,
what exactly has been causing this need? True, the catastrophe of
Sept. 11, 2001 and our last presidential election combine to create
a very reactive political stew. But time has continued to progress
and interest has not waned. Moreover, the opposite effect appears
to be occurring, as more people jump aboard the political awareness
bandwagon. So susceptible is the U.S. public to the political views
of talking heads, that they have tuned into the opinions of
comedians, allowing Jon Stewart to comfortably reside on The New
York Times best-seller list with “America (The Book)”
for the past six months. “These are not abstract issues;
these are things that any intelligent person can give an opinion
about, and the simplicity leads to people being engaged or
involved,” said Mark Danner, who will speak in
Saturday’s panel, “Interrogation or Tortune: Human
Rights After 9/11.” “In the past few years (the
Festival) has had discussions on the war itself and whether it
should be fought, and these are things that attract large
audiences.” Looking at the makeup of this year’s panel
at the Festival of Books, one could come to two different
interpretations about the ratio of political versus non-political
presentations. On the one hand, the 20 percent panel composition
that politics own this year can be seen as a number that is far
more swollen than in the years before there was such a large
incongruity in the public’s political opinions. However,
tending more toward the opinion of Christopher Looby, a UCLA
professor of English, perhaps this 20 percent is not unique, but
recalls a more historical American tradition. “The separation
between literature and politics is a fairly recent
phenomenon,” Looby said. “In the 18th (century) and
well into 19th century in America, readers and writers tended not
to think of those as separate realms. That is, writing about
politics often was considered a more respectable and important
literature than mere fiction, which was often in disrepute. So from
a historical perspective, the prominence of political writing and
current events in this year’s festival is not surprising, but
is simply a return to a formerly dominant model of
literature.” According to Mark McGurl, a UCLA professor of
English, the tendency to publish books which consist of
celebrities’ political rants is less related to politics
pervading literature than it is to the marketing needs of the
publishing industry, in addition to the public desire for the
truth. “Nonfiction is more marketable than fiction; but this
has less to do with a sudden rise to dominance of politics over
literature than with a more general public appetite for
“˜reality’ over “˜fiction,'” McGurl
said. “This is the same appetite that has encouraged the rise
of reality TV over the more overtly fictional formats. (There is) a
widespread desire to get back to the “˜real’ and the
“˜true.'” When up to 50 percent of the best-seller
list is comprised of books bashing its author’s opposing
party or critiquing some powerful person and/or his or her latest
newsworthy decision, it can be argued that the percentage of
political panels in this year’s festival is actually an
under-representation of nonfiction’s current popularity.
“My guess is that, compared to actual sales in the book
market, (fictional) literature is statistically over-represented in
this year’s L.A. Festival of Books.” said McGurl.
Indeed, the high marketability of political reads equate the
entertainment value of a book delineating the problems of
today’s economy with the latest harlequin romance novel. The
idea of a blockbuster book has become all encompassing to the point
where nonfiction that is traditionally meant to inform has achieved
the same level of aestheticism as fiction that is written for
entertainment. “I am not sure if they supply as much light
into politics as high drama and conflict,” Danner said.
“(Book publishers) are viewing politics as a gladiatorial
sport and so the focusing more on entertainment than on the
politics themselves.” Books likes Stewart’s
“America (The Book)” and Anne Coulter’s
“How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)” are perfect
representations of just how eager today’s readers are to
ingest other people’s political notions. All corners of the
entertainment industry appear to be grabbing for a piece of the
monetary potential that comes with publicizing as many outlooks on
the U.S. political system as possible. According to Appleby, there
has been a distinct shift in the general hierarchy of political
issues. No longer does our country find itself vehemently divided
over issues such as the country’s economic state as much as
it does about homosexual marriage; and the moral implications
behind stem cell research often have a far greater potential as use
for a casual political debate than foreign affairs or social
security. “The fact that cultural values have pushed economic
interests out of first place as an influence upon voters means that
politics has become connected with a broad range of concerns
““ cultural, intellectual (and) ethical.” said Appleby.
“The red-blue divide of states also stirs political
reflections. The festival appears to be mirroring these
developments.” While writings on current events have always
had some popular appeal, the recent polarization of the country has
caused a heightened awareness of the individual’s political
self. This allows authors and publishers to capitalize off of the
individual’s sense of pride in his or her respective
political faction. Whether the 20 percent of political panels at
this year’s festival is a high or low statistical figure, the
remaining 80 percent still lies within fictional entertainment. And
ultimately, entertainment is what the public buys, regardless of
whether or not it is to be found in the new Stephen King thriller
or the next ex-presidential autobiography. “In the past three
years, the United States has been in two wars, and people need to
read and find their own opinions,” said Asne Seierstad, who
will speak at Saturday’s panel, “Scheherazade’s
Daughters: Women in the Middle East.” “I was shocked
when I came to the United States and found the stores packed with
gossip magazines about Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, and very
few political magazines.” However, if this trend continues,
and political writings continue to compete with fiction in the race
for popular marketability, perhaps our literary world, as Looby
suggests, is currently in the process of hearkening back to an
older tradition when respectable entertainment was not found within
the fictional context of a novel. But this year’s festival,
regardless of its content, is still what it was always meant to be
““ a celebration of writing in its multiple capacities.
“If it were the L.A. Times Festival of Literature, that would
be one thing, but it is the L.A. Times Festival of Books, and books
have been a staple of the publishing industry for many
years,” McGurl said.

Editor’s Picks

Talkin’ Baseball with Frank Deford & Bill Plaschke
April 23 at 10:00 a.m. Schoenberg Hall

Weaving a True Tale: Creative Nonfiction I April 23 at 10:30
a.m. Rolfe 1200 Moderator Steve Almond Toni Bentley Mark Kurlansky
Eric Lax Rebecca Solnit

Fiction: Taking on History April 23 at 11:30 a.m. Moore 100
Moderator Diane Leslie Marie Arana Michael Andre Bernstein Jonathan
Safran Foer Marianne Wiggins

Brave New World: Monopoly, Media, and the Right to Know April 23
at 2:00 p.m. Royce Hall Moderator David Shaw Ken Auletta Hugh
Hewitt Arianna Huffington Geoffrey Stone

Madeleine Albright in Conversation with Samantha Power April 24
at 10:30 a.m. Ackerman Grand Ballroom

Eric Idle in Conversation with Catharine Hamm April 24 at 3:00
p.m. Royce Hall