It is by their syllables that words juxtapose in beauty, by these particles of sound as clearly as by the sense of the words which they compose. In any given instance, because there is a choice of words, the choice, if a man is in there, will be, spontaneously, the obedience of his ear to the syllables. The fineness, and the practice, lie here, at the minimum and source of speech.
“I would rather read genre fiction than what they call “Quality Lit.” Which is mostly what Knopf publishes, for example. I don’t want to use the word “elitist,” but it’s very narrow-minded — the kind of literary writing you find celebrated in the prizes, the Pulitzers, even the National Book Critics Circle, of which I used to be on the Board, and fought against. It’s recognized Literature with a capital L. So that’s another kind of thing that holds the genres apart: there’s this kind of thing that you’re supposed to write that I just don’t see any reason for writing.“
Ronald Sukenick