Writer and essayist Nick Chiles surveys the African-American literature sections of local bookstores for a New York Times op-ed: "All that I could see was lurid book jackets displaying all forms of brown flesh, usually half-naked and in some erotic pose, often accompanied by guns and other symbols of criminal life. I felt as if I was walking into a pornography shop, except in this case the smut is being produced by and for my people, and it is called literature."

Novelist Fred Smith has also noticed the trend: "Other writers have discussed the influences of hip-hop, or so-called street culture, on literature. Many do it silently, though, and among tightly-lipped circles where you know your trust/confidence/opinions won't be broken. It's a sensitive subject among writers.

Chiles' panic veers into alarmism and elitism. Pulp fiction has always existed as a subgenre, from the "penny dreadful" books of Dickens time until now. African-American liteature will not be defined by street lit. Readers will always demand a higher quality product; publishers will always seek the next Zadie Davis, Benilde Little or Walter Mosley; finally, writers will constantly re-invent themselves. If some readers never advance beyond the street lit titles, it's not up to the industry to force their graduation. That elitism would require music listeners to segue from Ciara and 50 Cent to Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra.

Comments

[pamalicious]

I'm glad someone spoke on this. I'm at the mall and I see YOUNG girls just buying Zane. and those crown publishing books.

I get fustrated that so many of us take the stance at least they are reading - we take that damn stance about everything! We are some of the most punkish of our race (speaking of our generation)
and I'm ashamed that noone - myself included will take a stand about anything! Videos, casual sex, empty reading - nothing!

Aww damn nose bleed again from being up on the podium...excuse me while I go blow........

[kristen]

it may be up to the booksellers to balalnce this 'writing' with quality black lit, however, black writers, publishers, etc. need to start producing and nurturing HIGHER QUALITY writing. Zane is not it (full disclosure: i really like 2 of her books)

I hate going into bookstores here in SB (b&n, borders) and seeing that mess. i don't even bother reading it because i already know what it'll say: hood life, ghetto love story, moment of truth, conclusion. that's a damn shame. we need to do muck better that this

k

[danyel]

I read The Story of O when I was twelve, and every other so-called bodice-ripper romance I could get my hands on. Yet here I am, fit as a fiddle. Let folks write what they want.

[david]

Those front covers look like stills from hip-hop videos - glam trash.

[jstheater]

I posted a longish entry on this as well. I think Chiles has a lot of issues he needs to sort out. It's not "punkish" to celebrate the fact that people are reading, especially when studies show that literacy even among college graduates is diminishing and that reading in general is in decline. Zane is not the problem. It's a lack of emphasis on reading in general, the life of the mind, and so on in our culture. But it affects the society as a whole, and it's crippling us. As Kristen says, it's up to readers, writers, teachers, parents, and others to nurture future readers. Publishers' sole responsibility these days is to their bottom line; otherwise they don't give a damn. Anyways, I think Chiles goes over the topic with his sexual panic. You'd think he thought the books were going to ravish him, or something!

[pamela]

I would like to say that I have nothing against Zane or anyone who is excerising their 'right' to express themselves - but what does that say about where we are in our mental state?

Our story does need to be told - and unfortunately these types of books are a part of our story but it seems to me that we have decided from our music to our literature that this is the extent of our story. Which speaks alot like I said before about what we have on our minds and how it has become so easy to just say 'do you'. What is doing you is costing us our future?

The cry that it takes a village and it's up to parents etc. etc. is becoming redundant and weak - because it's an 'excuse' to excuse us from having some responsibility.

I do, however, believe that there will come out of the horizon a new genre and a new set of writers. Hell there are always folks waiting in the wings.

I hope I am alive when our children grow up and those that are somewhat grown become mature - we are NOT going to like what they have to tell us....

[MR]

I think this is hilarious. I must have over 200 books by African American Authors and none of them fall into this category. The so called good Black literature is out there. Check out the African American section on the 21 street and Sixth Avenue Barnes and Noble and you will not find these books in that section. You'll find them distributed through the fiction section with other books by other races who have similar covers and themes. So called good books are out there in the stores by our authors and all we have to do is look for them. Personally I enjoy Walter Mosley, Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, Tanmarie Due, Steven Barnes, or Jess Mowrey but our people do not seem to be supporting these authors. Not to mention the very good African American Gay Authors like Fred Smith, Alphonso Morgan or Rashid Darden as opposed to crap like Homothug by Asante Kahari. The solution is simple. These "ghetto" books sell, (these degrading music videos are made, these ignorant rap songs are made) because they sell and people pay them attention. If you think it is garbage don't buy it, don't watch them or don't listen to it. Give your friends who read a better option than buying it and these books will stop being released.

[michael]

I avoid any book that falls into the "urban fiction" genre. Guns,drugs,and ho's just don't do it for me.

[jstheater]

Mosley, Butler, Due, Hopkinson, and the others you name do receive support from Black audiences. I saw a room full of mostly non-students, Black folks of all ages, and not all women either, at two different events Octavia Butler participated in on the far south side of Chicago. The folks had bought and read her books and thought pretty carefully about them. It was impressive and heartening. These authors' books might not sell as quickly to Black audiences as some of folks Chiles attacks, but then again, whose work is going to last? Who'll be selling 10 or 20 years down the road? People can still pick up Butler's KINDRED and be blown away. Its relevance is ongoing. The same is true of Wheatley's or Hughes's poems, Nella Larsen's or James Baldwin's fiction, etc. I still think the work Chiles denounces has a place and a role. And if people are writing and utilizing the new technologies to get their words out there, more power to them!