I totally agree, and I didn't know it was getting that bad. I would guess you are talking about Fantasy. I am mostly a Science Fiction reader, although I did read The Mists of Avalon (Bradley) which was 800+ pages. It was a good book, so I didn't mind, but I don't normally have a lot of time to read so I tend to avoid the really long books. I just read "Deepness in the Sky" - Vernor Vinge, which was 600+ pages, and I felt that the story could have been told in less than 300 pgs. If your 60,000 word book is a page turner, I'm sure it's fine, and assuredly better than 1000 pages of s**t, if you get my drift.
I would also be curious to know if this is some kind of trend being foisted upon the writers by the publishers, but somehow, I rather think not. If it's 1000 pgs of great stuff, then my hat's off to the writer, but I suspect more often it's a reflection of what the writer is full of.
(IMHO)
- Z.