Why do so many adults read YA fiction?

[Obsidius]

I too have noticed this trend gaining a substantial amount of traction. I guess in recent years, the only accessible romance novels are YA fiction, and romance is becoming a big seller. Though nowadays they're often disguised as adventure books, I think it appeals to a youthful immaturity that some adults dearly miss. You'll often hear adults telling their children to enjoy their childhood and teenage years, because "they're the best years in your life". Maybe it's just them wanting to have a taste of what they used to have? Fleeting emotions, a sense of adventure, both whilst not being to hard on the ol' noggin in terms of the amount of actual thought required to decypher any of the information. People, in the majority, prefer easy to obtain chunks of information, as opposed to articulate and cryptic lines.

 

[Mal12345]

We live in a culture where lines between adolescent and non-adolescent pursuits, hobbies, media have been blurred. Grown men collect toys, middle aged moms read teen vampire romance novels, young toddlers accompany parents to the firing range for target practice.

Similarly, the lines between high brow and low brow media have been highly blurred, practically erased completely. A person might be listening to Philip Glass one minute, Weird Al the next. John Seabrook | Stories | Nobrow Culture There is nothing wrong with this.

[MENTION=13589]Mal12345[/MENTION], I wouldn't argue Stephen King is anything but lightweight, yet it's interesting how the resurgence of horror literature as a genre to be taken seriously in the latter half of the 20th century can at least in part be credited to his popularity. Obviously there'd been Mary Shelley, Poe, and others who'd written intelligent horror before King, but by the mid 20th century, horror fiction largely resided in the realm of dime pulp novels. King can at least partly be credited with bringing it back as a genre to be appreciated in both popular and academic circles.

Where in academia is King's writing appreciated or studied? If there is such a place, doesn't this amount to academic degradation?

 

[Passacaglia]

I'm hesitant to watch that clip, for fear that once I watch it, I cannot unwatch it.

It's so worth it.