The Economist: Is "chick-lit" dead?

fjtorres · 03-07-2012, 10:57 AM

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prosp...porary-fiction

Quote:

IT WAS fun at the start, like every romance. But ten years on, the bloom is off the “chick lit” rose. This sparkly slice of women’s fiction has more or less officially expired. Reports abound from either side of the Atlantic: publishers rebuff new titles; supermarkets barely stock them; authors can no longer make it pay. Sophie Kinsella, the reigning queen of light amusing urban romance, must feel a little like Mark Twain. She ain’t dead yet: her newest novel, "I’ve Got Your Number", is a current top seller on British fiction charts.

A decade after "Bridget Jones’s Diary" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic" unleashed a tsunami of stiletto heels, chick lit isn’t as much dead as transformed. The genre has grown up and moved on. If anything should be laid to rest, many women in publishing argue, it’s the dubious and denigrating label that has hung on it like an albatross from the start.

Hmm, I dunno...
(Literally: My idea of "chick lit" features a 6ft2in eurasian protagonist with a 6-limbed cat-like sidekick on her shoulder.)

pidgeon92 · 03-07-2012, 11:07 AM

It isn't dead for me. I love chick-lit. Some of my favorite books are in that category.

elemenoP · 03-07-2012, 11:16 AM

10 years from now, I look forward to articles like "Is Vampire fiction dead?" and "Is YA Dystopia dead?" We will always have all kinds of books, it's just the bandwagon and glut of "me too" titles that will change. And if only the strongest books of an out-of-favor genre get published, maybe it's better to read that genre.

eP

RDaneel54 · 03-07-2012, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prosp...porary-fiction

Hmm, I dunno...
(Literally: My idea of "chick lit" features a 6ft2in eurasian protagonist with a 6-limbed cat-like sidekick on her shoulder.)

That is an HONORable idea.

spindlegirl · 03-07-2012, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

It isn't dead for me. I love chick-lit. Some of my favorite books are in that category.

I agree. I love it!

QuantumIguana · 03-07-2012, 11:27 AM

Books just need need something fresh to come along now and then. I expect that people will be telling vampire stories for a very long time, for example. Stories can get worn out, but something always seems to come along to make it fresh again. Sometimes that new and fresh idea is simply to go back and revive an older idea.

anamardoll · 03-07-2012, 11:35 AM

The biggest current obstacle to chick lit, that I can see, is that the genre tends to revolve around shopping as escapism. That's a little harder to sustain, fantasy-wise, in the current economy. There's a fine line between "escapism" and "being shown things I can never have".

Sil_liS · 03-07-2012, 12:29 PM

I consider chick lit to be romance novels without the sex.

fjtorres · 03-07-2012, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

That is an HONORable idea.

It fits the genre, no?
"Young career woman gets a promotion and discovers her new deputy wanted her position and resents her, her staff doubts her competence, and her immediate superior is the entitled jerk who tried to rape her when they were students and saddles her with an impossible job before going on vacation."

Skydog · 03-07-2012, 03:08 PM

Dead? I hope so. And I'm a "chick."

Salgueiros · 03-07-2012, 03:13 PM

Finally a death i can be happy with

whitearrow · 03-07-2012, 03:21 PM

It's dead until the next one comes along that becomes a best seller and pop culture phenomenon, then everyone else will rush to imitate its success.

Nothing's ever really dead -- just in hibernation.

MrsJoseph · 03-07-2012, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I consider chick lit to be romance novels without the sex.

This.

carpetmojo · 03-07-2012, 05:44 PM

Oscar Wilde might have been tempted to say " I shall certainly be at the funeral..............."

Catlady · 03-07-2012, 07:27 PM

I never figured out exactly what constituted chick lit. Oh well.

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03-07-2012, 11:07 AM	#2
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	It isn't dead for me. I love chick-lit. Some of my favorite books are in that category.

03-07-2012, 11:16 AM	#3
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	10 years from now, I look forward to articles like "Is Vampire fiction dead?" and "Is YA Dystopia dead?" We will always have all kinds of books, it's just the bandwagon and glut of "me too" titles that will change. And if only the strongest books of an out-of-favor genre get published, maybe it's better to read that genre. eP

03-07-2012, 11:27 AM	#6
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	Books just need need something fresh to come along now and then. I expect that people will be telling vampire stories for a very long time, for example. Stories can get worn out, but something always seems to come along to make it fresh again. Sometimes that new and fresh idea is simply to go back and revive an older idea.

03-07-2012, 11:35 AM	#7
anamardoll Chasing Butterflies Posts: 3,132 Karma: 5074169 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: American Southwest Device: Uses batteries.	The biggest current obstacle to chick lit, that I can see, is that the genre tends to revolve around shopping as escapism. That's a little harder to sustain, fantasy-wise, in the current economy. There's a fine line between "escapism" and "being shown things I can never have".

03-07-2012, 12:29 PM	#8
Sil_liS Wizard Posts: 4,896 Karma: 33602910 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: PocketBook 903 & 360+	I consider chick lit to be romance novels without the sex.

03-07-2012, 03:08 PM	#10
Skydog Wizard Posts: 2,286 Karma: 7409537 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Circling Earth @ Mach .83 Device: Elipsa 2E, Sage, Libra Colour, Libra 2, Clara 2E, Oasis3, Voyage	Dead? I hope so. And I'm a "chick."

03-07-2012, 03:13 PM	#11
Salgueiros Eudaimonia Posts: 898 Karma: 9164418 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Sony PRS T2, Sony PRS T3, Sony DPT-RP1	Finally a death i can be happy with

03-07-2012, 03:21 PM	#12
whitearrow Guru Posts: 808 Karma: 2260766 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Kindle Oasis 2	It's dead until the next one comes along that becomes a best seller and pop culture phenomenon, then everyone else will rush to imitate its success. Nothing's ever really dead -- just in hibernation.

03-07-2012, 05:44 PM	#14
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	Oscar Wilde might have been tempted to say " I shall certainly be at the funeral..............."

03-07-2012, 07:27 PM	#15
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,415 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	I never figured out exactly what constituted chick lit. Oh well.

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