On Moral Fiction

Gardner`s controversial book, first published in 1978, tackles the question of morality in fiction, and pleads for a more compassionate and meaningful engagement on the part of writers. Art, he claims, should serve a moral purpose. He takes to task writers who he categorizes as either nihilistic existentialists (e. g. William Gass) who refuse to celebrate and affirm, and trivializers (almost everyone else) who place language above the important themes of social responsibility that occupied great writers such as Homer, Dante, Tolstoy, and Shakespeare. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.