"Book Club Fiction"

[tegeus-Cromis]

So the Amazon pre-publication picks for July consist of nine books, each listed as a different genre. There's memoir and suspense and crime thriller, etc, then there's one listed as "book club fiction." I never would have considered this a genre in itself, but when I think of it, it makes sense, I guess? I can picture intuitively the principal characteristics of a book described as such, and, wouldn't you know it, when I clicked on it, the book fit my image of the "genre" to a T.

So, I thought I'd open this question for debate: how would you define (off the top of your head, without googling first) "book club fiction" -- even if it's the first time you've heard the term?

And another question: could there ever be (or is there) "book club science fiction" or "book club fantasy"? (Personally, I can think of at least one title that would fit the first category.)

 

[Randy M.]

Argh. This is the kind of question that nags me into answering when I should be doing something else ...

Book club fiction as I'd define it, has a plot (the less plot or the thinner the plot, the more likely to be seen as academic or literary fiction, and most book clubs I'm aware of don't lean that way, but will make exceptions -- see Toni Morrison) but also has a strong leaning toward complex interpersonal relationships. The plot is not the be-all, end-all, but the flavoring of suspense that keeps them reading. The relationships may or may not be romantic, but the book will rarely be solely about romance. Because most book clubs are not academic or literary in nature, the more abstruse and esoteric questions of prose and style and theme may get short shrift in favor of discussion centered around questions of character and decision making (problem solving) by those characters. You may also be able to substitute social/cultural issues for the discussion of character and its development/depiction.

All that said, book club fiction ranges from The Shipping News and The Road to Fifty Shades of Grey. No matter what you think about them personally, that's a pretty broad fictional territory.

SF book club: The Domesday Book by Connie Willis
Fantasy book club: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke
Horror book club: Ghost Story by Peter Straub


Randy M.

 

[Extollager]

So, I thought I'd open this question for debate: how would you define (off the top of your head, without googling first) "book club fiction" -- even if it's the first time you've heard the term?

My impression is that "book club fiction" is almost always What's New, What's The Buzz, I Saw It On TV -- or a tiny handful of classics (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre...). Not always, but almost always. But that is only my impression & it might be in error.

 

[Randy M.]

That's a good point, Extollager. I think most are new books, though I still think my description fits. Also, if you widen the "classics" a bit to include writers like Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy (among some others) I'd agree.

Randy M.

 

[HareBrain]

A book whose main qualities everyone can quickly agree or disagree about, so they can move on to the gossip.

 

[Randy M.]

Or wine.

 

[Extollager]

Or wine.

I hosted a reading group -- classic lit -- for eleven years, just served coffee and hot water for tea. I had an array of cups for drinking. I said: "Some of these have never been used. And some have never been washed."

 

[tinkerdan]

Did you know that hot coffee makes an cleaning agent for these cups?

"Some of these have never been used. And some have never been washed."