Today I bought four books at a major bookstore chain. Two by James Patterson, one by David Baldacci, and one by Norah Roberts.

I had to google the term 'good literary citizen.'

Seriously?

I have written for publication and money since 1962. My late father wrote for publication and money from 1927 to the day before he passed in 1984.

No other discipline is asked to mentor or support others on their career path. Do doctors have to support each other? Do dancers or singers? Do engineers? As far as I'm concerned, it's nonsense

Nobody ever taught me to write. I never had the support or mentoring from other writers. Nobody in my generation did. And nobody in prior generations did either.

I'm sorry, you don't like writers like James Patterson. I also picked up a book by Graham Brown (Clive Cussler) and Lee Childs. They were free.

There appears to be a sort of intellectual snobbery that we must read books that have deeper meaning, insights, etc.

Why?

I read fiction for entertainment. I read non-fiction (a hell of a lot of it) for fact

Years ago, when I worked for a newspaper, a literary publisher of Nobel and Booker prize winners told me that all her writers read non-fiction

Interesting, isn't it?