

And yes, Stephen King is one of the most commercial writers out there. He won't be winning a Nobel Prize any time soon. My point here is that even commercial work has artistic value and deserves to be criticized in the same way. If King writes in a way that a few billion people like, then have it, as long as he's telling the truth. The truth doesn't need to be Gabriel Marquez just like Damien Hirst doesn't get to be an artist just because what he does is different (he doesn't even do all of his own work these days). In fact, I'd argue that Hirst tells the truth less than King does because King actually set the market whereas Hirst has had numerous copyright infringement cases agaisnt him. Would King leave the arm pit hair out? Would Hirst? Does it matter? Only if the art world ignores it if it's left in, because only then will the critic understand why it's there.