The fact that I am capable of losing myself in 600 pages about cosmetics, a topic that I know absolutely nothing about and have no interest in, is testament to the quality and pace of the writing and the story. Why is there no equivalent nomen for books about traditionally testosterone-y topics like war, fist fights and cars ('dick lit' or 'prick lit' are two possible suggestions - no more vulgar than 'chick lit' mind you)? Personally, I'd much rather lose myself in a book about a peaceful topic like human relationships (romantic, familial or professional) and the beauty industry, than something bloody and violent. But thinking about it, (and in an effort to justify my own enjoyment,) the whole chick lit phenomenon is remarkably anti-feminist. Her books are belittlingly labeled as 'chick lit', forever dooming serious readers to deny having enjoyed them. They are extremely funny and the writing is surprisingly GOOD! I definitely couldn't write that well while maintaining such a complexity of characters and plot lines for 600 pages. Marian Keyes' books definitely do not fall into the Literature category because they don't offer much in the way of new insights or artistic use of language, but as far as Crap goes, they are pretty high quality. Twilight) fall into the 'Watching TV' category (because reading one of these books is the intellectual equivalent and takes the same amount of effort as sitting through a TV show). Books with negligible literary attributes (like no plot, no character development, poor writing, etc.ehh hmmm. Within the Crap category there are several further levels.

I mentally classify most novels into one of two broad categories: Literature or Crap.

Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes