Novel, Not New
The literature of the prurient
novel is not new. But today back
writers are threatening to kill it
with over-exposure. The drugstore
bookstands wallow in a plethora of
poorly-written sex novels. And the
books are there because the masses
of American book consumers
gobble them up faster than the
hacks can serve them.
The best-seller lists are usually
capped by three or four sex hits.
"Naked came the Stranger," the
first corporate attempt to make a
sex novel fail, bounced back with
resounding success. The book's success
gives credence to the
hypothesis that the American public
is culturally poverty-stricken find
actively seeks out the worst available
art form.
In movies, there is often times an
inverse relationship between the
MPAA rating and attendance. The
movie-makers have found that the
infamous "skin flick" needs neither
acting nor a plot to sell. When "I
Am Curious, yellow" finally did
leap onto the American screen, you
couldn't keep this nation of the
original "dirty old man" from
flocking to it. As a result, a
mediocre-to-poor movie seemed as
if it might approach "King Kong"
and "Gone With the Wind" in
popularity. Fortunately, someone
in the crowds finally noticed that
the production was as bare of originality
as the acting was of clothing.
