Their Eyes Were Reading Smut

Nick Chiles has an interesting op-ed piece (with a great title) in today's New York Times:

"LAST month I happened to go into the Borders Books store at the Stonecrest mall in Lithonia, Ga., about a half-hour from my house here. To my surprise, it had one of the largest collections of books by black authors that I've ever seen outside an independent black bookstore, rows and rows of bookcases. This is the sort of discovery that makes the pulse quicken, evidence of a population I've spent most of my professional life seeking: African-American readers. What a thrill to have so much space in a major chain store devoted to this country's black writers.

"With an extra spring in my step, I walked into the 'African-American Literature' section - and what I saw there thoroughly embarrassed and disgusted me..."

Read the whole column here.