In order to be successful, an author needs to write stories that compel people to talk about them

When we're growing up, the greatness of writers is presented to us as fait accompli. Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, and Hemingway have already been adjudicated by people who know what they're doing and they've been found to have great literary worth. And if you disagree? Well then you better be able to pretend otherwise, or you're not gonna do well in sc…