Michael Orthofer on Why Fiction Matters | Conversations with Tyler Cowen

Watch to discover why Michael believes everyone should read more fiction , how we should choose books, why American popular literature is overrated, what he thinks about authors like Herman Melville, Fyoder Dostoevsky, Goethe, J.K. Rowling, Arno Schmidt, and many more, what he thinks about Amazon.com and the best sites for readers, why studying literature at college was such a big disappointment, how much covers matter, and why his opinion will never be the final word.
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[@tigamanter8925]

Tip on finding good fiction. Go to a book store, ideally a good used book store. Sit there and break open the books for a few hours. Read a few pages into the books. Take the ones that resonate strongly with you. That's about it. Pretty straightforward. Where, when, or in what original language they were written - that stuff doesn't matter very much.

[@megancairns7194]

"I worry very much about people who rely on what gets that stamp of approval. Just because it has a cover review in the New York Times Book Review does not mean that that book really is, if we look at it from five or ten years down the road - that that book will still be a significant work." Great discussion. Inspired me to stray from the New York Times bestsellers and take a chance.

[@pjj.5649]

Yes, me also, I am inspired.. Thank you for your comment, my thoughts also.

[@doyle6000]

I just ordered Mr Orthofer's book!

[@pjj.5649]

I too struggled with this interviewer, he was awful, over talking Mr. Orthofer and the questions were so off-putting. Mr. Cowen's butchering of the various author's names made me go back numerous times so I could hear clearly to do my own research. I was introduced to a lot of new authors I never knew about, and I will look into reading their work. Mr. Orthofer is a wealth of information, unfortunately, I couldn't hear more of his thoughts. I am sure he squirmed through the whole ordeal too.

[@dianesellepedrosa1876]

Coffee or tea?

[@JM-st1le]

Both, but I prefer cofee

[@dianesellepedrosa1876]

Even though you don’t believe in God there is a very gentle and humble approach about you, which is something Godly.

[@tony9684]

One doesn't need to believe in a god in order to have a gentle and humble approach. Independent variables.

[@BenjamminClark]

These terrible questions are making me cringe.

[@pjj.5649]

I too thought the questions were awful and the fact that Mr. Cowen over talked or cut short Mr. Orthofer's response was so annoying.

[@joekennedy2599]

Not concise; repepative

[@sebastiaoedsonmacedo7950]

He is consistently vague throughout, arguing fiction brings or can add “a lot of things” into our lives but doesn’t pin-point anything especific at all. Ludicrous.

[@newyardleysinclair9960]

i cant read fiction. its so boring to me. I like reading non-fiction because i know it happened. Fiction feels like a waste of time. Thats what movies are for.

[@Rasselas_Urasawa]

Reading classics and great fiction is really a recommended venture, especially as films can only go so far in adaptation, but also films have their own artistic language of expression. There are documentaries, the non-fiction equivalent of films, and there are also really good non fiction books like Man's search for meaning. It's important to read books from both genres just choose the really good ones and not those that you know you won't like. Hopefully that's sparks some interest.

[@dianesellepedrosa1876]

I used to have the same idea about fiction but now after reading much more fiction I see there is a vast building of human and empathetic understanding growing in my mind.