A sandwich ain't nothing but food

[Hartwin Alfred Gebhardt]

Paul writes:
 
> > According to John Burgess:
> 
> > Besides, if one does not see TRP as "heroic" in some form, then however 
> > does one find him/herself in this mailing list?
> 
> 	Sounds kind of exclusivist to me.
> 
> 			Paul

Of course it is. So what? 'Exclusivism' is not a dirty word. Someone 
started this list, calling it Pynchon-l; this already broadly defines 
the area of interest for all those who have subscribed, and excludes 
other authors unless they are somehow related to Our Hero. (VIVA 
PYNCHON VIVA!) 

On a slightly more serious level: the question of whether one can or 
should distinguish between 'good' writing and 'bad' writing, or between 
'literature' and 'pulp', always tends to come up. Personally, and 
while not prescribing to any abolute notions of quality or the fixed
meaning of adjectives, I certainly believe that Thomas Pynchon is 
a better writer than Stephen King or Gore Vidal, that most romance 
and fantasy novels 'suck', that by far the greater majority of all 
publications are an absolute waste of 'innocent' trees, and that 
there are entirely too many Major Marvy's in this world. In this 
regard I am quite cheerfully exclusivist and even <gasp> elitist.

What do others think about this?

h(aughty)g(uy)
hag at iafrica.com