Jodi Picoult questions the distinction between 'literary' and 'commercial' fiction

You would be hard pressed to find fans more dedicated than those of author Jodi Picoult.

With her latest novel, "Nineteen Minutes" (Atria, 464 pages, $26.95) debuting at the top of The New York Times best-seller list at the beginning of March, Picoult's nationwide popularity hit a fever pitch. Known for placing her finger squarely on the pulse of a nation, her latest page-turner explores the bitter tragedy before, during and after a fictional shooting conducted over the course of 19 gory minutes.

Reached by phone during the Kansas City leg of her whirlwind international tour, Picoult explained that, for the most part, "I've been really happy about the reviews, with the exception of Janet Maslin's, who I don't think really read my book. I have actually told the publicist 'even if they ask for the book, don't send it' because they are never reviewing my book ... they're reviewing commercial fiction.

"That review was weird because she basically complained that I wrapped 'Nineteen Minutes' up into a nice, neat ending ... but I didn't!"

Not that her legions of fans seem to care one way or another, something the quick-to-laugh Picoult has noticed firsthand.

"Now, instead of having 150 people at a book event I'm having 400! It's scaring me a little bit because that was happening before this book even hit, so I'll be curious to see what happens after it comes out in paperback.

"What scares me about that is, I love doing events and I love meeting fans and I'm hearing from certain venues that I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have a straight signing. And I really don't think that's why people come to my events. I think they come because it's fun!"

What isn't so fun for Picoult, however, is leaving her children behind when she's off on extended book tours. For a moment, it sounded like she might even have been choking back tears at the thought of it.

"It's one of those double-edged swords ... be careful what you wish for. The really great thing about success is that everyone really wants you, and the really bad thing about success ... is that everybody wants you. My family is really good about sharing me but it is sometimes really hard. I love being out on the road. I love meeting my fans but every day that I'm with them is a day that I'm not with the family. ... "

What makes it easier for Picoult is the idea that she may be making a difference with her writing, however, even if she concedes that it falls squarely within the rubric of "commercial fiction."

"The problem that I have is that there is an assumption that commercial fiction cannot be worthy (of awards) and, when you think about it, the people we read as the classics today were commercial fiction writers. ... Dickens wrote commercial fiction, Twain ... they've only become literary through the passage of time. So that makes me wonder what will stick around. ...

"I think that you look at a book like 'Nineteen Minutes,' which is really about social and moral issues, and about parenting, about bullying and discrimination. You can't say that any of those conversations aren't important. They're incredibly important. And if you can get a wider number of people to start that dialogue because you have more people buying the book, because of where it's placed because it is commercial fiction, I don't really think that is a bad thing.

"I spent too many years fighting the system to do what I wanted to do. Most authors have to write in a genre ... in a way I made a genre for myself by not writing the same kind of book twice. Because of that, for a long time, no one knew what to do with me. But people began to look for something fresh, and now I'm allowed to do whatever I want because my publisher trusts me.

"They trust me to give my readers what they are looking for."