[TaxRelief]

Tom Clancy writes great fiction without ever having to add "morally vile scenes in a novel...to titillate the reader".

[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote, "Tom Clancy writes great fiction..."

No, he doesn't. Tom Clancy writes commercially successful fiction using formulaic, action-adventure plots, lots of techno-babble, wooden dialog, and cardboard-cutout heroes and villains. To give credit where it's due, his research is immaculate and his plotting and pacing are cohesive and page-turning.

And I'm not playing the part of literary snob, here. I like (and write) genre fiction, too, but the appellation 'great' is thrown around too freely. I would guess that Clancy, if asked, would balk at being called an unqualified 'great' writer. Hemingway was a great writer. Fitzgerald was a great writer. Heck, Raymond Chandler was a great writer. At his best, Graham Greene, known for his thrillers, was a great writer. That's exalted company. Clancy doesn't belong there.