Realism Rules

"Realism, seen broadly, cannot be a genre; instead, it makes other forms of fiction seem like subgenres. For realism teaches everyone else; it schools its own truants: it is what allows magical realism, hysterical realism, fantasy, science fiction, even thrillers, to exist."

In Prospect, the estimable James Wood makes another impassioned case for realism in the novel. Well worth reading.