I’ve been wondering about this. Colleen Hoover is well known as the sort of poster girl for sloppily written, baffling and aggressively mediocre books.
What was the equivalent to her in previous times? Like the Romantic or Modernist period?
During the the 1890s, what book was considered “embarassing” or super low brow to be caught with (in the same way the book community largely treats It Ends With Us)?
It’s not true at all. Moby Dick was a commercial failure and began the downfall of Melville’s career as a novelist. Not until the 1920s did Moby Dick work it’s way into the western canon.
I think you’re focusing on Hoover’s success, while I was referring to the negative aspects OP was talking about.