No, no, I'm not disagreeing with you at all. The Count of Monte Cristo is high literature and worthy of respect. I'm just noting that it's popular from my anecdotal experience. That's a good thing.
Yes, but which writers aren't read? Which writers that dominated their own eras are now absent? Who is the Mark Twain that few people born in 2000 has heard of?
I've never heard of this specific term before, but I know exactly what you mean by it. I can't stand it. Akin to fingernails on a chalkboard.