Highbrow vs popular

Sir, – Richard Pine (Ticket, December 1st) extols, at some length, the merits of "popular" versus "highbrow" fiction, but fails to mention the key determinant of whether a book in either category is worth reading: the quality of the writing.

Oscar Wilde addressed the issue succinctly in his preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray: "Books are well written, or badly written. That is all." – Yours, etc,

LIAM McAULEY,

Booterstown,

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Co Dublin.