Airport novel: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Type of genre fiction novel}}

{{unreferenced|date=October 2006}}

{{for|novels titled Airport|Airport (disambiguation)}}

[[Image:Ludlum-omaha.JPG|frame|''The Road to Omaha'' by [[Robert Ludlum]] contains elements of self-[[parody]] not often found in airport novels, but the back cover still promised "Byzantine treachery" and "relentless action".]]

The '''Airportairport novelsnovel''' representrepresents a [[literary genre]] that is defined not so much defined by its [[Plot (narrative)|plot]] or cast of [[stock character]]s, as much as it isbut by the social function it serves. Designed Anto airportmeet novelthe isdemands typicallyof a fairlyvery longspecific butmarket, fast-pacedairport [[novel]]novels ofare intriguesuperficially orengaging adventurewhile thatnot isbeing stereotypicallynecessarily foundprofound, inusually thewritten readingto farebe offeredmore byentertaining [[airport]]than [[newsstand]]sphilosophically forchallenging. travellersAn toairport readnovel inis thetypically roundsa offairly sittinglong andbut waitingfast-paced that constituteboilerplate [[airGenre travelfiction|genre-fiction novel]]. commonly Perhapsoffered itby will[[airport]] be finished in the hotel room that awaits them at the end of the journey; perhaps it will be saved for the return trip[[newsstand]]s.

Considering the marketing of fiction as a trade, airport novels occupy a niche similar to the one that once was occupied by [[pulp magazine]] fictions and other reading materials typically sold at newsstands and [[kiosk]]s to travellers. This pulp fiction is one obvious source for the genre; sprawling [[historical novel]]s of exotic adventure such as those by [[James A. Michener|James Michener]] and [[James Clavell]] are another source. In [[French language|French]], such novels are called ''romans de gare'', "'[[train station|railway station]] station novels"',<ref>{{cite news|title=Romans de gare|work=Harper-Collins French-English Dictionary|publisher=Harper-Collins|date= 2007|isbn= 978-0-00-728044-5}}</ref> suggesting that writerspublishers in France were aware of this potential market at ana evenvery earlierearly date.<ref name="Sweeney, Seamus">{{cite web|url=http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000327.php |title=A New Genre: The Record Store Book|website=The Social Affairs Unit|author=Sweeney, Seamus}}</ref> The somewhat dated Dutch term ''stationsroman'' is a ''[[calque]]'' from French.

==Meeting the reading needs of travelers==

An airport novel must necessarily be superficially engaging, while not being particularly profound or philosophical, or at least, without such content being necessary for enjoyment of the book. The reader is not a person alone, in a quiet setting, contemplating deep thoughts or savouring fine writing; the reader is being jostled and penned among strangers, and seeks distraction from the boredom and inconveniences of travel. The writer of an airport novel must meet the needs of readers in this situation.

The realisation that this niche market for [[mass market paperback]]s had given rise to a new genre was slow in coming. Perhaps a defining moment in the history of the genre came in [[1968]], when [[Arthur Hailey]] published ''[[Airport (novel)|Airport]]'', an airport novel that used the commercial flight industry to frame an adventure yarn about a disaster in an airport. Hailey's other novels, [[soap opera]] tales with complex plots of adultery and intrigue featuring business characters, using a number of other industries as backdrops (e.g. ''[[The Final Diagnosis]]'' ([[hospital]]s); ''[[Hotel (novel)|Hotel]]'' ([[hotel]]s); ''[[Wheels (novel)|Wheels]]'' ([[automobile]] industry); ''[[The Moneychangers]]'' ([[banking]]) represented an emerging genre.

==Format==

Airport novels are typically quite long; a book that a reader finished before the journey was done would similarly be unsatisfying. Because of this length, the genre attracts prolific authors, who use their outputs as a sort of [[brand]]ing; each author is identified with a certain sort of story, and they produce many variations of the same thing. Well-known authors' names are usually in type larger than the title on the covers of airport novels, often in [[Embossing (paper)|embossed]] letters.<ref>Michael Cathcart, ''[http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/atoday/stories/s153446.htm Airport art: what is it?]''. [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]], byline July 17, 2000, accessed Mar. 25, 2008.</ref>

Airport novels are always [[paperback book]]s of a small but thick format. These books are seldom made to last, printed on inexpensive [[newsprint]], and they often begin to fall apart after one or two readings. This is not a problem for their intended purpose; they are made to be bought on impulse, and their readers often discard them when finished.

Airport novels are typically quite long books; a book that a reader was able to finish before the journey was done would similarly be unsatisfying. Because of this length, the genre attracts prolific authors, who use their output as a sort of [[branding]]; each author is identified with a certain sort of story, and produces many variations of the same thing. Well known authors' names are in letters larger than the title on the covers of airport novels, often in embossed letters.

==Themes==

Airport novels typically fall within a number of other [[genre fiction|fiction genres]], including:

A number of literary genres dominate the airport novel market. Complex and Byzantine plots involving world-spanning or multigeneration conspiracies are often found. [[Spy fiction]], political [[thriller fiction|thrillers]], [[techno-thriller]]s, [[legal drama|legal fiction]] and similar tales of [[espionage]] or intrigue make up a large chunk of the market. [[Romance novel|Romance]]s, especially romances involving wealthy [[jet set]] characters, also loom large in the genre. Some [[historical fiction]] occurs, especially multigenerational [[family saga]]s or tales that take place over the course of decades or centuries in a colourful ___location.

* [[Crime fiction]]

[[Science fiction]], [[fantasy]], and [[horror fiction]] are conspicuous by their absence, even if the tales of espionage and intrigue often mention fantastic technologies. [[Wizard (fantasy)|Wizards]] and space explorers do not seem to make the airport novel reader's heart beat faster; spies, government and military officials, and powerful business executives do. Perhaps as a consequence, airport novel writers tend to be more [[conservatism|conservative]] in [[politics]] than other writers do; [[Tom Clancy]] and [[Frederick Forsyth]] are writers with works arguably within the genre who have been linked with conservative politics.

* [[Detective fiction]]

* [[Historical romance]]

* [[Spy fiction]]

* [[Thriller (genre)|Thriller]]s

Whatever the genre, the books must be fast-paced and easy to read. The description "airport novel" is mildly [[pejorative]]; it implies that the book has little lasting value, and is useful chiefly as an inexpensive form of entertainment during travel. Airport novels are sometimes contrasted with [[literary fiction]], so that a novel with literary aspirations would be disparaged by the label.<ref>Bridget Kulakauskas, [http://www.illiterarty.com/genre-airport-novel Genre: ''Airport novel''] at illiterarty.com, no date; accessed Mar. 26, 2008.</ref>

Whatever the genre, airport novels typically contain pages of explicit description of sexual encounters, often to the point of [[pornography]]; unlike pictorial pornography, an elaborate [[sexual fantasy]] that appears only in text can be enjoyed by the reader without making it too obvious to the other passengers what is being read. The cover of an airport novel is often a painting that depicts a collage of attractive women and action scenes.

==History==

Early in the [[history of rail transport in Great Britain]], as longer trips became more common, travelers wanted to read more than newspapers. Railway station newsstands began selling inexpensive books, what ''[[The Times]]'' in 1851 described as "French novels, unfortunately, of questionable character." Sales were so high that ''[[Athenaeum (British magazine)|Athenaeum]]'' in 1849 predicted that railway newsstands might replace traditional bookstores.<ref name="pike1888">{{Cite book |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31395/31395-h/31395-h.htm |title=Railway Adventures and Anecdotes |publisher=Hamilton, Adams, and Co. |year=1888 |editor-last=Pike |editor-first=Richard |edition=Third |pages=130–133}}</ref>

By 1851, [[WH Smith]] had about 35 bookstores in British railway stations. Although ''Athenaeum'' reported that year that the company "maintain[ed] the dignity of literature by resolutely refusing to admit pernicious publications", ''The Times''—noting the enormous success of ''[[The Parlour Library]]''—surmised that "persons of the better class, who constitute the larger portion of railway readers, lose their accustomed taste the moment they smell the engine and present themselves to the railway librarian."{{r|pike1888}}

==Writers of airport novels==

Writers whose workbooks ishave identifiedbeen withdescribed theas airport novel genrenovels include:

<!-- Do not add writers to this list without a source -->

{{div col|colwidth=12em}}

* [[Jeffrey Archer]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/heavyweights-join-thrillers-and-sagas-in-airport-lounge-1243507.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224143752/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/heavyweights-join-thrillers-and-sagas-in-airport-lounge-1243507.html |archive-date=2016-02-24 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Heavyweights join thrillers and sagas in airport lounge| work=The Independent | date=August 3, 1997 | accessdate=February 17, 2016}}</ref>

* [[David Baldacci]]

* [[Peter Benchley]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article730466.ece|title=Peter Benchley Obituary | ___location=London | work=The Times | date=February 14, 2006 | access-date=April 23, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100601034539/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article730466.ece| archive-date= 1 June 2010 | url-status= dead}}</ref>

* [[Dan Brown]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4985812.stm|title=The Da Vinci phobe's guide|publisher=BBC News Magazine | date=2006-05-16 | accessdate=2010-01-01}}</ref>

* [[Lee Child]]

* [[Jackie Collins]]<ref name="thorpe20210613">{{Cite news |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |date=2021-06-13 |title=Jackie Collins: the reality of life in Joan's shadow |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/13/jackie-collins-the-reality-of-life-in-joans-shadow |access-date=2024-10-05 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

* [[Suzanne Collins]]

* [[Michael Crichton]]

* [[Tom Clancy]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/10/tom-clancy-has-died-spy-author/70108|title=Bestselling Spy Author Tom Clancy Has Died|publisher=The Atlantic Wire|date= 2 October 2013|accessdate=2013-10-03}}</ref>

* [[Clive Cussler]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,254986,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421150804/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,254986,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 21, 2009|title=Valhalla Rising Review|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|date= |accessdate=2013-10-03}}</ref>

* [[Robert P. Davis]]

* [[Ian Fleming]]

* [[Vince Flynn]]

* [[Frederick Forsyth]]

* [[John Grisham]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illiterarty.com/genre-airport-novel |title=Genre: Airport novel |publisher=Illiterarty.com |date= |accessdate=2011-12-05}}</ref>

* [[Arthur Hailey]]<ref name="Fear of Flying">Sarah Vowell, [http://www.salon.com/ent/music/vowe/1998/08/24vowe.html ''Fear of Flying''] at salon.com, byline Aug. 24, 1998, accessed Mar. 26, 2008.</ref>

* [[Thomas Harris]]

* [[E.L. James]]

* [[Stephen King]]

* [[Stieg Larsson]]

* [[Robert Ludlum]]<ref>John Williams, [http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,451717,00.html Robert Ludlum: Prolific thriller writer whose conspiratorial plots of unimaginable evil defined the airport novel], in [[The Guardian]], March 14, 2001 (online version accessed March 25, 2008)</ref>

* [[Andy McNab]]

* [[Stephenie Meyer]]

* [[James Patterson]]

* [[Jodi Picoult]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illiterarty.com/reviews/perfect_match |title=Book review: Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult |publisher=Illiterarty.com |date= |accessdate=2011-12-05}}</ref>

* [[Matthew Reilly]]

* [[Harold Robbins]]{{r|thorpe20210613}}

* [[Chris Ryan]]

* [[Sidney Sheldon]]{{r|thorpe20210613}}

* [[Nicholas Sparks]]

* [[Danielle Steel]]<ref name="Sweeney, Seamus"/>

* [[Gérard de Villiers]]<ref name="Out of Afganistan">Schofield, Hugh. [http://sundaytimes.lk/071007/International/international000015.html ''Get out of Afghanistan: France's million-selling spy writer'']. [[The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)]], 7 October 2007.</ref>

{{div col end}}

==In popular culture==

The animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'' included a joke in the episode "[[The Joy of Sect]]" (airdate February 8, 1998), in which an airport bookstore is named "JUST [[Michael Crichton|CRICHTON]] AND [[Stephen King|KING]]". [[Hans Moleman]] asks, "do you have anything by [[Robert Ludlum]]?" and is told by the clerk to get out.<ref name="The Joy of Sect">{{cite news|url=http://www.snpp.com/episodes/5F23|work=The Simpsons|date=February 8, 1998|title=The Joy of Sect|access-date=2013-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011107142518/http://www.snpp.com/episodes/5F23|archive-date=2001-11-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[Dale Brown]]

{{portal|Novels}}

*[[Dan Brown]]

* [[John le CarréPotboiler]]

* [[Tom ClancyYellow-back]]

*[[Mary Higgins Clark]]

*[[Jackie Collins]]

*[[Clive Cussler]]

*[[Len Deighton]]

*[[Ken Follett]]

*[[Michael Crichton]]

*[[Frederick Forsyth]]

*[[John Grisham]]

*[[Arthur Hailey]]

*[[Robert Harris (novelist)|Robert Harris]]

*[[Stephen King]]

*[[Robert Ludlum]]

*[[James Patterson]]

*[[James Phelan]]

*[[Jacqueline Susann]]

*[[Danielle Steel]]

== References ==

<br><br>

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

Please note, however, that a majority of the novels by these authors are ''not'' airplane books.

* {{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/atoday/stories/s153446.htm |title=Airport art: what is it?|work=Arts Today with Michael Cathcart|publisher=Radio National|date=July 19, 2000|author=Cathcart, Michael}}

* {{cite web |url=http://www.mxac.com.au/drt/JunkFoodEntertainment.htm |title=Junk Food Entertainment |author=Rozak, Mike |website=mxac.com.au |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041206045021/http://www.mxac.com.au/drt/JunkFoodEntertainment.htm |archivedate=2004-12-06 }} Mike Rozak contemplates the difference between airport novels and classic novels.

{{Books}}

==References==

*[http://www.mxac.com.au/drt/JunkFoodEntertainment.htm ''Junk Food Entertainment''] - Mike Rozak contemplates the difference between airport novels and classic novels.

*[http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/atoday/stories/s153446.htm ''Airport art: what is it?''] - Michael Cathcart

*[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000327.php ''A new genre: the record store book''] - Seamus Sweeney.

[[Category:FictionLiterary by genregenres]]

[[Category:Books by type]]

[[Category:Book terminology]]

[[Category:Aviation mass media]]