Paste on Forehead While Reading/Writing

From Jeff Vandermeer, a comment that's quite pertinent whenever one of those 'elite' vs. 'lowbrow' conflicts erupt again:

Personally, I think it’s unwise to dismiss so-called “high-brow lit crit”. It’s also unwise to dismiss so-called “entertainment.” (As pointless as both terms are, because they are too general.) The wise writer assimilates and uses all of this stuff. The whole point is to keep achieving mastery and to keep achieving mastery (because you can never really achieve mastery, just acquire new tools and insights toward mastery).

Of course, Vandermeer's opinion about the whole divide can be parsed better in this essay he wrote for Clarkesworld magazine. Good points there also.

Overall, this is one reason why when Vandermeer recommends a book, I usually check it out because I know he can recommend both good genre and non-genre books. For such examples, check out the mainstream and genre books he cites at the end of the said essay.