Lev Grossman: Respect is Hard to Come By for a Fantasy Author in a Literary World

Posted on September 10, 2011

Lev Grossman is the book critic at Time magazine. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Magicians and The Magician King. Lev talks to The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Trachtenberg about the tribulations of being a genre writer in a literature world. Lev says respect is hard to find for fantasy writers.

Lev says fantasy literature is going through a transition. Lev talks about the evolution of the novel over time, and in how fantasy literature has changed. He said in the last decade it's become more for adults than children. Lev disagrees with the notion that genre fiction is not literature.

Lev and Jeffrey also discuss the ridiculous modern concept that if your book has an actual plot, then it's not literature. It's quite an interesting -- and amusing -- chat. Take a look:

You can visit Lev's blog here. The Magician King is available at bookstores and at Amazon.com.