There was an essay at American Renaissance

called Their Eyes Were Reading Smut. The author, an African American, obviously used to reading high literature, complains that the African American literature sections of book stores are filled with pornographic, thug life celebrating novels, with lurid covers and explicit depictions of sex. I work at the library and I have seen the rise in popularity of these novels over the last few years. Even Blacks that don't usually read have been gobbling up these books. I heard one of the typists today talking about the book, The Hustler's Wife, she was eager to read it. The only problem I have with the phenomenon is that the Young Adult section of the library is filled with these novels. In an ideal world the teens that read explicit novels would be too inexperienced to understand them, but we all know that that is not the case. Teens these days are way more experienced than we were at their age. The adults that are reading the novels are just looking for a little escapism. Trust me, they would not be reading Toni Morrison or Zora Neale Hurston if they didn't have these other novels to read. They just wouldn't read at all.