What I've been reading.

The Rider (De Renner), by Tim Krabbé. By the Dutch author of The Vanishing. The semi-fictionalized story of a 150k bike race in 1978, this book absolutely captures the truth about cycling. Plus it's very short. Highly recommended.

How Fiction Works, by James Wood. This certainly takes the right approach; ends up being more convincing in the details sometimes than presenting any overarching explanations. That's probably as it should be.