I've been thinking and reading so much about this list and i think it all comes down to who they asked to participate and their own personal conditioning/bias as probably Americans where affluent white culture dominates. And also their age!! Like how old was everyone, because I know for a fact if you asked a bunch of 20-somethings Rooney would have at least two of those spots. I would LOVE for them to do this exercise again every 10 years, what a change we would see!!
Yes! I agree that it's odd to throw together all types of books into one list (esp. both nonfiction & memoirs being listed together with fiction). On the other hand, I understand that the NYT books people may not have the freedom to create a big hoopla over each of several different lists, which of course should also include poetry (though personally I'm not a fan, plenty of readers are). As for the English-language focus, I understand the criticism but keep in mind the NYT primarily serves English-speaking customers, and they do have to think about attempting to make a profit with what they dish out.
Homegoing, The Namesake, and Know My Name made my list too. I was shocked the Namesake and Know My Name didn’t make the official list!
I was shocked too!
-N
I've been thinking and reading so much about this list and i think it all comes down to who they asked to participate and their own personal conditioning/bias as probably Americans where affluent white culture dominates. And also their age!! Like how old was everyone, because I know for a fact if you asked a bunch of 20-somethings Rooney would have at least two of those spots. I would LOVE for them to do this exercise again every 10 years, what a change we would see!!
That's true, I would love to see them do this again in the next decade.
-N
Yes! I agree that it's odd to throw together all types of books into one list (esp. both nonfiction & memoirs being listed together with fiction). On the other hand, I understand that the NYT books people may not have the freedom to create a big hoopla over each of several different lists, which of course should also include poetry (though personally I'm not a fan, plenty of readers are). As for the English-language focus, I understand the criticism but keep in mind the NYT primarily serves English-speaking customers, and they do have to think about attempting to make a profit with what they dish out.