Justine Larbalestier

Comments

1. El Says:

   Fiction about walking on the beach and getting sand in your shoes.

   Okay, maybe not. My first guess would be–fiction that takes a grittier approach, i.e., if you slide into third you describe the feeling of the abrasions, the grit embedded in the elbow, etc. A woman giving birth doesn’t just sit there glowing, breathing hard occasionally, and threatening to strangle the father–she actually *feels the birth.*

   Or not.

   November 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 PM

2. lisa Says:

   Books that inexplicably have soil between the pages?

   November 22nd, 2008 at 5:47 PM

3. lili Says:

   I always thought it was just a new fancy word for what we used to call “issues books”. You know. RAPE. DRUGS. CYBER-BULLYING. No holds barred. But “issues” has become a bit of a dirty word – implies that the writer started with the issue, instead of with a story.

   November 22nd, 2008 at 6:36 PM

4. E. Kristin Anderson Says:

   I haven’t heard the term! I would either interpret it as an alternative term for transgressive writing OR for “serious” literature.

   November 22nd, 2008 at 6:44 PM

5. Patrick Says:

   Fiction on sandpaper.

   November 22nd, 2008 at 7:33 PM

6. Sarah Says:

   Duh, Justine. Gritty means like sooooo worthy.

   November 22nd, 2008 at 7:43 PM

7. jennifer, aka literaticat Says:

   gritty – the opposite of “lyrical”

   November 23rd, 2008 at 1:23 AM

8. mb Says:

   I’m still trying to figure out “urban fantasy,” which as far as I can tell is not about cities…

   November 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 AM

9. Another Amy Says:

   Well, I’ll take a stab at this one – I’m guessing “gritty fiction” could mean fiction that has more realistic elements or descriptions. Probably meaning details about the parts of life that some might consider to be more rough or dirty. I could see a crime story being described as gritty fiction, depending on the style.

   November 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 PM

10. ClareSnow Says:

    A long time ago (back in my youth) before emo meant “teenagers sitting in their room cutting themselves” it used to describe music ie. emo music. on diff occasions i heard it used for deftones and modest mouse. i love both these bands, but i couldn’t understand how they could be placed in the same category, unless that category was music Clare likes. then i realised it could be used to mean whatever you wanted it to mean. i have no evidence, but i think “gritty fiction” is the same. perhaps it may even mutate into “fiction written by teenagers sitting in their room cutting themselves”

    November 24th, 2008 at 2:12 AM

11. Rachel Says:

    I’ve never heard this either! But I’m kind of thinking it might be used as like, books about inner-city minority kids?

    November 24th, 2008 at 6:17 PM

12. eek Says:

    My guess is modern fic about city kids, but without the street cred to be “Urban Fic.”

    November 24th, 2008 at 9:25 PM

13. meiow Says:

    gritty is what they called The Outsiders right?

    gritty in YA = kids who have to deal with adult stuff in an environment where there is grit. ?

    November 24th, 2008 at 9:55 PM

14. capt. cockatiel Says:

    Whatever it is, it really doesn’t sound that appealing?

    November 26th, 2008 at 4:57 PM

15. liliya Says:

    fiction that sticks in your teeth

    November 30th, 2008 at 6:20 AM

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