ABSTRACT
Writing about contemporary fiction is a false game, not only because egregious choices must be made, but because the scene changes daily. Contemporary novels quickly become fictions of the past, and their question-able powers of survival are all too subject to canonical tastes and narrow academic decisions. Critics of fiction necessarily contribute to the story of story-telling–in fact theirs is the job of telling that story. In any given period, the best fiction matters because–like all the other arts and sciences–it says something about our level of civilization. One of the difficulties in writing a limited history of or commentary on contemporary fiction is that, even if one chooses established writers–i.e. ones who have been around for more than a few minutes–there is no longstanding history of readership. The most damaging factor has been the burgeoning of creative writing programs in American universities, where most fictionists try to earn their living.
