I have wondered this for a while

[james_davis_nicoll]

What's the point of the subtitle "a novel"?

Comments

[aisb23.livejournal.com]

I can see the usefulness in cases like Gore Vidal's "Burr: A Novel" as perhaps either the author or publisher did not want someone not familiar with Vidal's work to think it a serious biography of Aaron Burr rather than a piece of historical fiction.

Other than that, it seems to be utterly pointless.