Guilty pleasures?

The idea of these books as lesser works, or "guilty pleasures," is baffling to me.

Louise Wilder, Blurb Your Enthusiasm

I, too, am baffled.

Louise Wilder

What Louise Wilder is talking about above is so-called genre fiction — mysteries, romance, science fiction, thrillers and westerns. Why should such books, as a whole, be considered lesser works? Why should a person ever feel guilty about reading a book in any of these categories?

True, some of these books may be poorly written. Some may be trite. Some may be mostly filled with violence, sex, profanity and descriptions of disgusting behavior. But isn't this also true of some books in the general category, even what's regarded as literary fiction? Bad books can be found anywhere, but so can good books.

The concept of dividing novels into genres began, I assume, for the convenience of readers. Many readers prefer reading mysteries or romances or westerns or whatever. And so bookstores began setting these books apart. Why should someone looking for a good sci-fi novel have to look through every book in the store to find the right one? If general fiction could be so easily divided into smaller groups, booksellers would no doubt do so.

Those who review books and teach books in literature classes, unfortunately, have tended to view genres as literary ghettos. These are considered second-class books before they can even be read. The problem with this way of thinking however, is that Jane Austen's Persuasion is a romance novel. George Orwell's 1984 is a sci-fi novel. Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a western (which won a Pulitzer). In other words, quality can be found in genres just as it can be found anywhere else.

And even if one is not looking for literary quality, but just wants a good time, why should you feel guilty about reading what you enjoy?