But is that enough? Maybe it depends on genre. I THINK that what I have is literary fiction, (though it's base on a true story), but is that a judgement call? Or, is it just that it can't be put into any other genre?
Yes, entertainment and engagement are pretty much the main draw of fiction, I'd say. At the very least, they're the main business.
Literary fiction is sort of a blurry term sometimes, from what I hear, but the basic line I see over and over is that literary fiction is more about the characters with the plot happening sort of under the surface, whereas other fiction has the plot as the main thing driving it forward. In both, characters and plot are important, but the balance is different. (And I'm just regurgitating things I've read--I don't actually know any of this firsthand.)
If entertainment and engagement sound like too little to you, think of what those things actually entail: emotional attachment, emotional involvement, intellectual stimulation, making someone feel more alive and giving them happiness. A really good book will have me seriously messed up about it. It will keep me awake without caffeine and I'll be trembling and freaking out and when it's over I'll be seriously depressed. The more involved I am, the worse the emotional fallout. It's like having really long, gradual sex, but the afterglow is replaced with moody emo fucked-up-in-the-head withdrawal. ...Okay, not sex. More like crack. With a comedown.
If I could stick my book in someone's face and have them snort it up and make it do that to them, I'd be the happiest person in the world. (Until I got sick of the high and decided to go put porcupines in my bathroom or something. I'm insatiable.)