“Whether fiction really has lost authority in our culture is a difficult question to answer. The situation is different in Canada and the United States, for one thing. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, dealt a blow to the New York publishing industry from which it has not yet completely recovered. Literacy is also declining in that country. Owners of independent bookstores in Toronto, specializing more in high-end products, do not agree that literary fiction is on the downswing.”