A friend of mine used to call certain men “entertaining.” They might not be marriage material, but they could be fun for a dalliance. They were certainly a diversion; they made her laugh. As for serious objects of desire, they had to have at least some entertainment value. What good was a partner – be they rich, handsome, or blameless – without a sense of humour?
‘Okay, AMP,’ you say, ‘this isn’t a matching-making blog.’ Right. Onward, from amour to fiction, just for the heck of it. Critics and scholars often classify novels as being either commercial (i.e., entertaining) or literary. Nobel-prize nominee Graham Greene, widely-read and widely-respected, called some of his novels “entertainments.” Critics said it downgraded his oeuvre. I don’t see it that way. In my view, to be entertaining is a plus, not a liability. Books won’t save the world. However, they might take your mind off a few woes or tickle your brain – a little entertainment.
North Noir 