Interesting piece from 12/30/09 Washington Post.
"This fall, Publishers Weekly named the top 100 books of 2009. How many female writers were in the top 10? Zero. How many on the entire list? Twenty-nine."
"What are the best books? The answer is always subjective, and I'm not a literary arbiter. But the message I received from this year's lists was painfully familiar. It forced me to explain to my students -- the next generation of writers -- that the men in the class have double if not five times the chance of this kind of recognition. I'll hand over the statistics and explain that an industry kept afloat by women is sexist. I'll confess to my own sexism. And I'll tell them that we have failed, but they don't have to."
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Not all is lost, Ladies. The girls are batting 60% at the NYTimes:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/gift-guide/holiday-2009/10-best-gift-guide-sub/list.html
Though female book critic Janet Maslin ain't helpin' the cause with only 10%:
http://www.nytimes.com/gift-guide/holiday-2009/giftguide-maslin/list.html
Heck, she even chose a Stephen King novel, not exactly a favorite of the critics for most of his career.
But since this a Man Booker-centric club, you can bask in the glow of your 2009 victory, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. (20th on the waiting list that I've been on since October.) Maybe they can call it the Woman Booker Prize in years when a lady takes home the trophy.
john