"In response to an article pointing out how difficult women authors have it in the publishing world and specifically calling out an author's sexism, the commentariat chose to attack her books."

I think it's because while we do think a lot of them men she called out are overrated, we also don't genuinely find her writing to be in any way above those she is dissing. I found her work to be drek that was trying to manipulate my emotions to make me care about characters that I found largely unappealing. I don't…

Yeah, thank you for this.

He is overrated, yes. But they simply do not write in the same genre so it's like comparing bathtubs and oranges. She writes Lifetime Movie of the Week airport novels and Franzen writes overwrought literary fiction.

You would put the novels of her novels in the same category as Franzen and Eugenides?

To me, at least, it feels like Jodi Picoult is jumping on a train that this particular commentariat, at least, already knows to be true, to make claims about her own work that do not ring true. I would never argue that sexism isn't present in the publishing world, as I don't think most people here would. I don't…

look, she can't compare herself with Eugenides. Who the fuck is she kidding? Her books are awful, treacly garbage. She probably is slightly better than Sparks, but they are in the same genre.

Chick Lit also includes a lot of books after fat girl transformations and shopping. No thank you. To be fair, I also don't like schlocky books by men, either. I'm an equal opportunity hater of bad writing.

She sounds like a Nice Guy (TM)

I imagine that some pro Darren Wilson fans are probably also Garth Brooks fans. This sends a pretty powerful message.

Brooks is actually known to be a liberal. I don't know much about his stand on racial issues, but he's been on board with gay rights since the early 90s, when a ton of people who weren't immersed in country music had attitudes that probably embarrass them these days.

Aren't she and Nicholas Sparks the literary equivalent of a Thomas Kincade painting?

I have occasionally enjoyed chick lit, but rarely, and only in the right frame of mind. It's gilded turd, but sometimes you want a gilded turd.

Yeah, that's where I struggle with this a bit. There's not a single big time popular but critically derided author who hasn't said something along these same lines. I have Stephen King's book on how to write a novel and literally every other line is some variation on "And let me tell you another reason why critics are…

If you don't like Nicholas Sparks books, you won't like hers, either.

Well Picoult puts out a book at a rate of at least one a year, so she's really a terrible representative for the point of view that women can't get published.

Jodi Picault's books are pretty much at the same level as Nicholas Sparks'- both write cheesy, airport book-stand novels.

I don't know if critics are saying it, but there are plenty of people who dismiss Jane Austen as old-timey chick-lit, and yet would never question the quality of male-authored classics.

To be fair, I think Nicholas Sparks is pretty widely dismissed as pointless wankery too.

If I could find a man who could stand to sit home with my kids all day without pulling his hair out, that, my friend, would be marrying UP.