Literary writers appear to be interested in topics about sex or death. Sometimes they’re combined, other times they’re separate topics. But it always circles back to this. Allow me to demonstrate using self-composed summaries of “literature” imparted to me during my Bachelor of Creative Writing:

• One of my favourite extracts from How fiction works (Leonard Woolf’s biography): Virginia committed suicide.
• Cat Person: story about sexual assault.
• Better Myself: alcoholic teacher, problematic depictions of sex (and life in general).
• Hills Like White Elephants: allegory for abortion.
• Anything Can Happen: you cannot convince me Lucy’s mother isn’t low-key deceased.
• An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge: man experiences final delusion while hanged.

And Arthur Krystal wonders why I prefer genre fiction.

Hemmingway is the quintessential anti-hero. The talented, charismatic, belligerent, suicidal, alcoholic genius that can’t keep his dick in his trousers. And he still found time to write about fifteen books.

Randy Writes A Novel