Is Good Subjective?

(Remixed from a post I did a couple of years ago).



The Lost Symbol is formulaic. Twilight is simplistic, both in plot and writing. Eragon is ridden with cliches (Warning: TV Tropes link). The Shack reads like it was self-published (oh, wait).



And yet every one of these books sold millions of copies.



Millions.



For those of us who have devoted a significant portion of our lives to the written word, this can drive us nuts. It's unfair, we say. If people knew anything about quality litera...