All women writers are dull, they just drone on about domestic matters

[victoriapeckham]

See this article in The Guardian. (This my first attempt at a link, so please bear with me)

How outrageous! Why is the domestic universe any less interesting than thrillers and Toby LItt style lit about taking drugs and being a bastard?

boring old womenzzzz

[Marina]

Top of my droning on about domestic matters ad nauseam list has to be Tony Parsons, closely followed by major emetic boy-lit nightmare Mike Gayle. And I've never even been tempted by the likes of Christopher Brookmyre.
Men write tedious formulaic pap too boys
I suppose unless you've read the specific submissions for the Picador anthology you can't really judge if Litt's and Smith's comments are at all justified.

[Sponge]

Margaret Attwood doesn't, Fay Weldon doesn't - just off the top of my head.
And some write about domestic matters very beautifully and movingly.
A bit of a meaningless criticism IMO.

[ionesmum]

Oh, please. It's this type of drivel that undermines women (and mothers in particular). At least women don't write bloody sci-fi!

[tribpot]

Some women do write sci-fi, and some of it is excellent (some of it ain't mind you!). Ursula K LeGuin springs to mind, and Julian May (she is a woman despite the name) is my fave author. If I had to generalise I'd say women sci-fi writers are more interested in the 'human' side of the genre rather than just writing techno-babble about lasers and stuff.

I assume Toby Litt intended his statement to be provocative, how utterly tedious of him. Next!

[mummytosteven]

oh it's attention seeking garbage. and like sponge says, meaningless. if you're a wonderful writer, you're a wonderful writer.

[Janos]

Quick look on my bookshelves reveals:

Fay Weldon, Janice Galloway, Val McDermid, Martina Cole, Mo Hayder, Isabel Allende, Philippa Gregory, Isla Dewar....

I've never heard of Toby Litt - who is he and what does he write?

[ionesmum]

Okay, tribpot, have to admit here to reading Anne Mcaffrey in my time!!!!! I don't mind sci-fi to be truthful, but generally it is male-dominated and I'm so annoyed about this that sci-fi sprang to mind.

I think what really annoys me is the idea that domestic settings aren't suitable for writing about. We all have domestic lives and many of them are extraordinary. What they seems to be sayiong is that women are only interesting if removed from their home lives - and ditto men therefore, as nothing interesting can happen at home that is noteworthy. Therefore our relationships on which our lives pivot are unimportant. Great literature casts light on our relationships and helps us to understand who we are, and if it happens that women writers have been more sensitive to this and do it well in the context of our home lives then so be it.

[edam]

well said ionesmum.

[acnebride]

great post ionesmum.

i wonder if the message of the article is 'and how come these writers that I find boring sell more copies than I do'

[Janos]

Hear, hear ionesmum. Well put!

[GhostofNatt]

Toby Litt is crap

[suzywong]

Christopher Brookmyre is a very nice man, his wife is an aneathestistsisitsit

yes very well put indeed

[Marina]

Just because he is a cute guy we don't have to read his nonsense Suzy .

[suzywong]

he's not cute, not by any stretch of the imagination
I only read his first three because I know him, then I "got" the plots and the motivation and didn't want to read anymore, it's very boys-own isn't it?

I always go for female authors above men when choosing, with the exception of Ian MacEwan and Peter Carey

[Marina]

You need to try Jonathan Coe, Suzy. The epitome of sensitive but funny male writing about life in general. I think formula writing, whether by men or women, is what gets my goat. Feel ridiculously and disproportionately / that these people crank this tosh out and are better off than under-appreciated, under-paid wage slaves!

[suzywong]

which title should I try first?
I have list you know

[Marina]

Go for The Rotters' Club followed by The Closed Circle.
I love The House of Sleep but that seems to divide fans of his work.
What a Carve-Up was the one that made people start to take notice of him. It is blackly funny but just a bit too savage for my taste. Very clever man, heart in right place all right.
Have you read much Tim Winton? Goodness I loved Cloudstreet.

[suzywong]

I have read Tim Winton, Dirt Music
I read it when I first got here, being set here and all, but I have to say I didn't rate the story very highly, I can see the beauty of his prose but I thought it rambled and needed a firm editor.

Cloud street is set in Subiaco, I will try that actually.

[Marina]

Do try Cloudstreet, it rambles too, but much better than Dirt Music which also disappointed me. Made into a tremendous stage play too