William Gaddis on writing

...and as about a good an explanation as any for why I long ago quit enjoying "fluff reads" or "fun reads" (whatever those mean).

"Most writing now, if you read it they go on one two three four and tell you what happened like newspaper accounts, no adjectives, no long sentences, no tricks they pretend, and they finally believe that they really believe that the way they saw it is the way it is, when really...it takes your breath away, telling you things you already know, laying everything out flat, as though the terms and the time, and the nature and the movement of everything were secrets of the same magnitude. They write for people who read with the surface of their minds, people with reading habits that make the smallest demands on them, people brought up reading facts, who know what's going to come next and want to know what's coming next, and get angry at surprises." (The Recognitions, pg. 113).