There can be different outcomes when fiction writers and novelists take on the wilderness of nonfiction. They sometimes randomly wander until something strikes their fancy.  They may get involved with the natives and neglect their mission. But, hey, they just might navigate those uncharted territories like Lewis and Clark. The last is true for Jonathan Safran Foer. His first nonfiction book, Eating Animals, has arrived on our planet, and he made a stop in our fair city last night to talk about it.

Foer plans on this being his only work of nonfiction;  he feels strongly about the environmental effects of the animal industry and called the topic of vegetarianism “durable,” as he’s been flopping back and forth, vegetarian to omnivore, since the age of 9.

He read two small sections based on his grandmother,  presented as a food-centric Jew, a trait resulting from nearly starving during World War II. Her determination to keep kosher even through those times inspires him to keep sight of his ideal. When he asked her how she could refuse food that could save her life, how it could matter at a time like that, she replied, “If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.”

Foer has a true flair for hyperbole, but he presented a number of facts regarding factory farming and its effects on the environment that attendees could only wish were exaggerated. His extensive research and subsequent deep knowledge of the modern “farming” world gave him a confidence and made him unblinking when faced with potentially moral gray zones. When the reading turned to conversation, Foer was matter-of-fact and unabashed when a farmer’s daughter made a case for family farms, her own passed down many generations. His reply, “I just don’t think tradition is all that compelling.”

All the uproar in the book world this past week has been about Publishers Weekly’s 2009 list of “top 10 best books”, NONE of which were written by women. (Many links are below, but this post is the best-looking one). PW gave this as an explanation:

“We wanted the list to reflect what we thought were the top 10 books of the year with no other consideration. We expect you’ll be surprised: there’s a graphic novel, an adventure story, possibly the next Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a delicious biography that could bring Cheever back into the literary firmament. We ignored gender and genre and who had the buzz. We gave fair chance to the “big” books of the year, but made them stand on their own two feet. It disturbed us when we were done that our list was all male. There was kicking and screaming for a science fiction title. A literary ghost story came so close, it squeaked. There was almost a cookbook. Our fabulous long list smoothed ruffled feathers, but still we can’t resist one honorable mention: Kevin Wilson’s debut collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Harper Perennial). With no regrets, we’re ready for “Auld Lang Syne.” —Louisa Ermelino

I am not alone in calling bullshit on the above, which implies that no woman in 2009 wrote deserving enough fiction (the year that the great Alice Munro won the third Man Booker International Prize, let me remind you). Bookninja take up this argument: ” Was there really no amazing novels penned by a female author this year?  Of course not!  It was actually a great year for women authors– Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall took home the Booker, and A. S. Byatt’s latest came out to rave reviews (and was nominated for the Booker) as did Lorrie Moore’s A Gate at the Stairs.  2 of the 5 fiction writers nominated for the National Book Award are women.”

Most of the articles responding to this outrage– yeah, I’m not afraid to call it that–say that PW has the obligation to take ownership of their decision in one of two ways: Either fess up to their belief that men write better books than women or admit their reviewing is gender-biased. But let’s not allow them to hide behind the ‘ol, “This year was an anomaly,” or “We just didn’t read female authors who moved us in the way these male-authored books did.” [My interpretive quotes].

That’s the same excuse widely used in affirmative action cases and what it boils down to is something organizationally systemic; something built into the staff/editors/leadership responsible for these lists; that unconscious, unspoken tendency to have an affinity for that which is familiar and that which affirms our own beliefs. Duh: There’s a big bias towards male writing in literary editorship, and PW has decided to have zero shame about that fact. Here’s a NYT excerpt:

“Cate Marvin, a founder of the group Women in Letters and Literary Arts, told The Guardian, “The absence made me nearly speechless.” She added: “It continues to surprise me that literary editors are so comfortable with their bias toward male writing, despite the great and obvious contributions that women authors make to our contemporary literary culture.””

Salon reminds us this is not a new subject: “What’s at issue isn’t sales or even access to readers; this is an argument about prestige and critical recognition, an argument best articulated by the novelist and critic Francine Prose in a 1998 article for Harper’s magazine…I don’t doubt that P.W.’s editors are entirely sincere when they say their list reflects their unvarnished preferences. Still, the fact that those preferences can’t encompass one woman author among 10 books (fiction or nonfiction) picked from the 50,000-plus titles they claim to have sifted through suggests that their horizons might need a bit of deliberate widening.”

Jezebel gets to the heart of the matter: “When a list like this one draws criticism — and they have in the past — the compilers usually defend it with the argument that “this is just what we like.” But what we like is subject to deeply held and unconscious biases, and when we think we’re being objective, we are often praising what we’re most comfortable with, or what we think is most deserving of praise based on whatever stereotypes we grew up with.”

The Washington Post puts out a call to action: “According to the 2008 U S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behavior Annual Report, women gender buy 65 percent of all books purchased. We buy the vast majority, in particular, of paperbacks, hardbacks, and audio books. So, dominant consumers [and reasonable dudes-who-don't-want-to-just-read-more-dudes-G.K.], let PW know that you would appreciate a more gender-balanced list next time and that you’ve got the dollars to back it up.”

I don’t think anyone reasonable would call for PW to actually change their final list after realizing it was all-male. At that point, they’d already failed. But one one does hope, nay, expect, that the widespread negative response their list provoked will impel them to do an about-face when it come choosing their own tastemakers/editors. Only from the ground up can this kind of change occur. We’re talking systemic change in staff and leadership, and in modes of thinking. Let’s keep our eyes out for next year’s list.

No. 1 Omission From Top 10 Book List: Women [NYT ArtsBeat Blog]
A 10-Best Books List Without Women? [Salon]
Best Books Of 2009 [Publishers Weekly]
The WILLA List Wiki [Official Site]
Is It Time To Stop Listing Best Books? [Jezebel]
Fury After Women Writers Excluded from Books of the Year [Guardian UK]

Sooner or later, readers were going to start realizing that our short attention spans and easy-boredom points us squarely in the direction of the short story, an oft-neglected format, mostly viewed as the less-marketable, less-read format compared to novels.  Lo and behold, the Wall Street Journal recently pointed to the growing audience and appreciation of the short story form. The WSJ piece notes the recent prize-winning story collections by Alice Munro and Elizabeth Strout, and delves into the technology that seems to deem short stories as ideal for their format; (the WSJ mentions smartphones delivering stories and mini-e-books via projects like Five Chapters and Delacorte Press–I’d add Chicago’s own CellStories and Featherproof’s Triple Quick fiction to that list).

Sez them: “With the growing popularity of e-readers and digital devices, traditional publishing models are being challenged in ways that may benefit short fiction.”

Personally, despite the short attention span flash fiction may be deepening in me, I’ve signed up for every decent short-story-via-smartphone project I can find. Anything’s better than succumbing to the Red Eye during a commute. Am I right?

Essay Fiesta time! A new series built entirely around Essays. This third Monday of November don’t pass up the literary stylings of essays back to back! Come to the Book Cellar (4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave.) by 7pm to hear readings by Alyson Lyon, Beth Stelling, Keith Ecker, Zach Dodson, Jenny Macbeard, and Jenna Sobel. Zach will read his infamous essay on Al Bundy and existentialism. It’s opinionated! Winners of the event’s raffle will be announced and proceeds go to benefit Howard Brown. Also, The Book Cellar is awesome.

…is young and attractive.

Join F newsmagazine and the School of the Art Institute’s MFA Writing Dept. for round table discussion about Chicago’s burgeoning new literary community, featuring novelist Kyle Beachy, playwright Chris Bower, blogger Jac Jemc, Managing Editor of this here lit blog and Assistant Director of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance Mairead Case, Quickies! founder Lindsay Hunter and Featherproof Books founder Zach Dodson, and moderated by MFAW Department head Sara Levine.

The School of the Art Institute Chicago,The Sullivan Gallery, 33 S. State, 7th Floor,

November 11 from 4:30-6pm FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC