Some of the greatest writers we have ever seen have foregone the need for plot. Just look at Raymond Carver, and to a lesser degree, David Foster Wallace. Plot will often hamper any attempt at character development by having the situation so totally overwhelm the possibility of individual choice, and thus, make all characters reactionary to a series of crises rather than really giving them an opportunity to show what they're like as people e.g. "Shit, my house is on fire; better throw some water on it." This a logical reaction to a situation, whereas, if you were to take away the fire and just showed the character in his or her house, a plethora of possible opportunities is opened up to them as in, like, whether they'll go out to shop for milk, or call up Beth, or whatever. Through the choice, we get to see a character completely bare of any distractions, whereas a plot pushes this personality to the background.
Personally, I find stories lacking plot infinitely more interesting than the crap offered in most fiction, irrespective of genre.
