What is Literary Fiction?

Joyce Saricks, a nationally recognized librarian, defined it this way:  "Literary Fiction is critically acclaimed, often award-winning, fiction.  These books are more often character centered rather than plot oriented.  They are provocative and often address more serious issues...these are complex, literate, multilayered novels that wrestle with universal dilemmas."

Novelist Jay McInerney, in a New York Times article, said, "The difference between literature and its imitations might be defined in any number of ways, but let's be reckless, even elitist, and propose that a literary novel requires new reading skills and teaches them within its pages, while a conventional novel -- whether it is about lawyers or professors or smart single girls -- depends on our ingrained habits of reading and perception, and ultimately confirms them as adequate to our understanding of the world around us."

A study reported in the Scientific American showed that reading literary fiction increases one's capacity for empathy, the "ability to infer and understand other people's thoughts and emotions." This effect doesn't appear with popular fiction, whose "characters are internally consistent and predictable, which tends to affirm the reader's expectations of others." It does appear with fiction that "focuses more on the psychology of characters and their relationships," when "characters disrupt reader expectations, undermining prejudices and stereotypes" and "characters' minds are depicted vaguely, without many details, and we're forced to fill in the gaps to understand their intentions and motivations."

Literary fiction clearly calls for a substantial amount of effort and it provides more than entertainment.  That's a good thing: think of all the unsatisfying television shows that provide passive entertainment and nothing more.  Literary fiction calls on the reader to engage with the story, often working through layers of meaning, complex characters and moral dilemmas.  That makes it especially suitable for book clubs, whose members can share insights about the book and enjoy the satisfaction that comes from working together to achieve a deeper understanding of the author's intent.