Monetary Report for Week 8 (and other thoughts)

Well, things are back to normal. I sold one copy of my novel this week at $10.00. So . . . my profit was $1.00. This brings my total profits for the year to $104.30. I felt like I was climbing to the D+ list, but I've slid right back to the D list.

I also started reading a non-fiction book this week entitled (and subtitled) The Trouble with Diveristy: How We Came to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality. What an excellent book. Very thought-provoking. Every time I pick up a non-fiction book, I'm always glued and almost always provoked to think. Last year my non-fiction book was The Living Great Lakes, which I still highly recommend -- especially given the eventual water wars that we seem destined for.

For me this has raised the question: What is the purpose of fiction? Why make up stories? Is it simply to entertain? To exhibit craft? Or to say look at how surreal/experimental/nutty I am? Is it posturing? Is it masking the fact that the writer really has little to say?

To clarify, I go to literature to see the world in a way that I hadn't before. I want to be closer to understanding some aspect of the human condition. If I'm entertained along the way, great! For me, though, being interested or being enlightened IS being entertained. Leisure entertainment I can get from television. I guess I just expect a little more from my reading time.

So, why do I feel I'm getting more out of my non-fiction experiences than my fiction experiences -- especially when I read contemporary fiction? Also, in general, why is fiction on the decline and more readers are turning to non-fiction? Is it because most fiction has become apolitical? Is it because contemporary fiction writers seem much more interested in craft and effect over Truth and position?

I don't know. Anyone have the answer?