Lisa Lilly answers “Why is this book so popular when it is a...”

Citizen asked this question about Americanah:

Why is this book so popular when it is a lengthy, rambling mess of stories interspersed with lectures about race, society and culture? What happened to the idea of a great STORY, characters the reader can care about, conflict, rising action, etc.???

Lisa Lilly This question fascinates me because what I love about this book is how the author manages to include such a strong story, compelling characters, comme…moreThis question fascinates me because what I love about this book is how the author manages to include such a strong story, compelling characters, commentary and race and culture, and stunning writing into one book. I normally read far more structured novels (suspense, horror, thrillers, mysteries), so I often avoid books that aren't genre as I find less attention to plot and characterization. Here, I was happily surprised to love the plot and characters as much as everything else. It just shows how different readers can have a vastly different reaction to a book.(less)

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Monica I would definitely agree with you here. Because the book is written differently than our more traditional novels (suspense, horror, thrillers, etc.) i ...more
Mar 07, 2016 08:41AM · flag

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