On Thu, Apr 22, 1999 at 06:28:38PM -0400, Paul Kennedy wrote: > Who gives a shit? Now that, as compressed as can be, is how to approach literature. Forget about lists of who you "should" and "shouldn't" like. If you like it, you like it. I confess that I never read Tom Robbins (not from malice, but from neglect), but a friend recently gave me a copy of JITTERBUG PERFUME, so it's on my stack of books to read. A lot of people completely like or love Mark Helprin's work, until they find out that he's also a rather outspoken right-wing voice, and because of that they dismiss his credibility. It's amusing to see this happen when the sequence is "read Winter's Tale and loved it"/"learned of author's political leanings"/"devise reason to reverse earlier praise of author." I say, if you like it, that's good enough. To whom are you supposed to justify your likes and dislikes, anyhow? Welcome back, Paul; we've missed you! --tim