Good Fiction or Good Literature?

Both the Thinklings and the Phantom Prof are reacting to a recent New York Times compilation of the Best Works of American Fiction in 25 Years. The list features the works of many authors but Philip Roth, Cormac McCarthy, and Don DeLillo are all mentioned multiple times. The winner was Toni Morrison with Beloved, one of Oprah's favorite books and least successful movies.

But where is the comedy? Like the Oscars, it seems that only dramatic fiction gets any respect. Comedy is very hard to write, yet nobody wins praise for it. What a shame. Instead everyone is praising what could be best called Pulitzer bait. You know, the literary equivalent of an Oliver Stone movie. The literature just seems so one note to me. Even Shakespeare wrote both comedies and tragedies.

Also the current critically popular literary trend is pretty bleak stuff. I can't imagine myself ever wanting to read Beloved. If I wanted to crawl into the head of an 18th century slave, I'll read the Slave Narratives. Maybe Beloved is a good book, but I've read enough reviews to know that I won't enjoy reading it. Which is why I read books these days.

UPDATE: My coworker Izzy had to read Beloved in high school. He didn't like it. I suspect it is the sort of novel only someone with a degree in English could love.