“American Fiction” is an entertaining movie, authors and publishers say. And it has a lot to say about Black families and the struggles of Black authors in an industry that remains predominantly white. But the featured plot of a Black literary author finds unexpected success through a crudely written, profanely titled novel seems a little outdated to some. “American Fiction,” nominated for best picture and in four other categories, was adapted from a 2001 novel that came out when a genre often called “urban lit” was peaking. Those kinds of books no longer sell so well.
