Mediocrity

Addicted to Mediocrity: Contemporary Christians and the Arts


Yes, this book has been sitting on my bookshelf for years. Maybe someday I will even get around to actually reading it. It might seem like it should not be so hard to read this book. After all, the book is very short, only 124 pages. And the title sounds so important, something about Christianity and the Arts. Wow! I mean, who does not want to sound fashionably artsy, anyway? And the author sounds like it might be someone important. After all, the book is published by a reputable publisher and has a glossy cover with art by Michelangelo, nonetheless. So why haven't I read this book? I am not sure exactly why I have never quite been able to get very far in this book. Maybe it is the idea of trying to decide what art is excellent and what is only mediocre. I mean, who am I to say? It is not my opinion that matters. What matters about art is whether the people like it and want it and buy it. And yet schlocky, mass-produced art is everywhere and pervasive and what is unique and quality is very expensive. I am not so presumptuous as to imagine that I could afford all that quality stuff so I am mostly stuck with mediocrity, if that is what you call mediocrity. And so maybe that is why this book seems too depressing to actually read past the blurb on the back. I mean, so what if I just cannot afford to buy the clothes that I really like and end up buying stuff I like less because it is what I can afford? That is reality. Excellence in art is a matter for connoisseurs and rich people to ponder. As for myself, maybe someday I will read this book. It won't change my life but at least I will have read another important book. Some people ridicule me for reading too many books, as if that were pretentious but, well, I don't know, I just always liked to read. and at least I am not so pretentious as to imagine that ignorance is bliss.