A Book A Day

If you like to read about dragons, or about magic or monsters or gumshoe detectives, then there’s a high chance you’ve been accused of reading “escapist” fiction. Usually said with a hint of condescension, many people believe that escapist fiction is not really reading.  This is as though there’s real, important, serious literature on one end of the spectrum, and then there’s fun, lightweight fiction on the other end.

You are reading about children going to wizard school because it is, indeed, more pleasant than checking your rapidly dwindling bank balance or watching the collapse of the economy in real-time on Twitter.

But that’s all right. In fact, it is more than alright – it is important. I mean – have you seen the news recently? In such times, we need books that will ground us in the unvarnished reality of our present, and books that explore the more horrific moments of our past. We need dystopias to warn us and poetry to challenge and inspire us. And we need escapist fiction to give us a freaking break.

“As JRR Tolkien reminded us, the only people who inveigh against escape are jailers.”