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Mark Olmsted's avatar

I've only read one Jodi Picoult novel, but I was in prison at the time and the storytelling was like manna from heaven. I've always wanted to thank her, because when I was in her book, I wasn't in that cell.

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Christine Beck's avatar

You can thank her now. She reads and answers all her emails on her website. She answered mine!

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Mark Olmsted's avatar

Thanks, I will.

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Colin Corrigan's avatar

Thanks for this. I've never read Jodi Picoult, I guess because she wasn't marketed to me (or to the people I get most of my recommendations from), but you make her books sound great, I'll have to check out 'By Any Other Name'.

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Gina Ferrari's avatar

What a thought provoking article. I enjoy the writing of both Anne Tyler and Jodie Picoult… very different styles but equally well crafted. Vinegar Girl was great fun and nothing like Tyler’s other books (except for Baltimore). Looking forward to the latest from Jodie Picoult

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mary g.'s avatar

I love this topic. All of it is about marketing. Publishers want to make money, so they decide the cover and how to sell the book. Once you get placed within a genre, it's hard to get out. Kristin Hannah managed to break through from Romance author to much more serious author when she added wars to her plot lines. It was a smart idea!

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Deborah Nash Ott's avatar

Thank you for this thoughtful examination. I’ve been inclined to put Picoult in the popular fiction category, and Tyler in literary fiction, a snooty notch above. I’m rethinking all of that now.

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Susan Erickson's avatar

I recognized all the Jodi Picoult novels and would love to recommend one of my absolute favorites, “Leaving Time”.

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Christine Beck's avatar

Thanks. I think she gets a bad reputation because she is so popular. I loved reading about her on her website.

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