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In defense of snobbery, there is a reason for distinguishing between superlative literature and the ordinary kind. It's not just that the Nobel committee needs to be careful in its selection process. They can only give one hundred prizes per century. Beyond that, it is human nature to compare the writing skills of authors. Perhaps Stephen King will admit that J.M. Coetzee is a better writer, in a pure sense. Perhaps not. If the earth were about to be hit by an asteroid, and all of mankind's achievements were to be wiped out, whose books would you send into the galaxy, Poe's or King's? Both men have wild imaginations, but Poe is a genius and King a hack. While Noire (a sexploitationist writer) has had more orgasms in real life or in her books than Jane Austen, who will history remember? Before we proudly trumpet our anti-snobbery, let us not forget that there are very good reasons for writing standards. Otherwise a monkey with a typewriter would be the norm.
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