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Bad Sex Can Win You a Prize

Well…sort of.

The UK’s Literary Review annually presents its Bad Sex in Fiction Award to an author who has penned the worst sex scene in a novel published in that year. But don’t think the title is reserved for low-rent erotica and cheap paperback romances. The awards tend to single out some of the biggest names in literature for their boner-killing attempts at crafting a serviceable sex scene. Nominees for the distinction have included John Updike, Paulo Coelho, Tom Wolfe (who won in 2004 for a scene from I Am Charlotte Simmons), and Norman Mailer (last year’s winner, whose A Castle in the Forest contains a passage describing a penis as “soft as a coil of excrement” — talk about boner-killer).

Today, the 2008 Bad Sex in Fiction Award was awarded to Rachel Johnson, who faced — pardon the term — stiff competition this year (Updike and Coelho were among her fellow nominees). Johnson’s novel Shire Hell contained the winning passage, which the prize committee singled out for its bizarre collection of animal metaphors (i.e. comparing a character’s tongue to “a cat lapping up a dish of cream so as not to miss a single drop”).

But Johnson is thrilled with the award, calling it an “absolute honor”. ”I’m not feeling remotely grumpy about it,” she said. The author was present at today’s ceremony and accepted the award — a big plaster foot — from actor Dominic West (The Wire).

Congratulations, Rachel Johnson! (I think.)

Story Source The Guardian | Image Source The Daily Mail

November 25, 2008 | Filed Under Eyes on the Prize, Newsies

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