oh nooooo! don’t hate the Secret History!!! Mainly because I am/was a Greek and Classics student, I loved that they were into the same stuff as me (it’s hard to find that…trust me). However I can see your point about the characters being smug, nasty etc. Still, even things that we find repulsive can be successful entertainment, so said Aristotle (ha, had to chuck that in there).

I thought that part of it was fascinating. Most of it is just hatred for The Little Friend, which, eeesh.

I know it’s not a short story, but “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt reeked of this problem. I only finished it because I wanted to see how the central mystery resolved, but as I was reading I realised I hated every last one of these brilliant, selfish, screwed-up characters. I think I’ll be selling the book on Amazon; it’s not even worth a second read.

Hah!

Well, she did pal around with Bret Easton Ellis.

…Yeah, I think I…yeah. I was reading the book primarily for the suspense, which I thought was masterfully done. And, of course, some of the characterization is excused by the premise, which kind of depends on all of these characters being amoral enough to turn themselves into dangerous crazy people.