Really. Go back and look at the first page where genre fiction is called a one-armed drummer, for one thing.
Then there's the more subtle dig, that literary is genre fiction and then some.
Hahaha ahhh.....
I'm sorry if the drummer/singer thing was taken that way--to clear the air, I read both and enjoy both styles, especially when they're mixed. I was just making a silly analogy off of someone else's observation.
But I do think this is the single conversation that can and will go on forever here. And it's probably because no one can definitively say whether or not something is literary unless someone marketing the book says so. I personally am so confused by the genre guidelines that I don't bother to worry over it.
Experiment with language--so a genre book can't be well written?
Claim to academic merit--whose claim? On what basis can art be claimed academic over others? Because it follows old academic tradition? If so, how does academia ever evolve?
Psychological--genre books don't develop their characters psychologically? I guess I was reading a different I Am Legend than everyone else. And what about the 'psychological thriller' genre?
So what, exactly, makes something literary? I'm as confused as the poster, when it comes down to it. I place importance on language and psychology of character, so I tend to gravitate towards the title of literary, but with no clear-cut shape or parameters otherwise.