Tuesday, November 30, 2010

So bad it's a winner


The winner of the annual Bad Sex in Literature Award has been named......and it stays in the UK this year. London-born writer Rowan Somerville has taken the honours for his very bad sex in The Shape Of Her. The judges cited Somerville saying they hoped to 'shame' him, particularly for a single sentence: 
'Like a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect with a too-blunt pin he...her.'
Enough said.
'There is nothing more English than bad sex, so on behalf of the entire nation I would like to thank you.' Somerville told the media.You can read a review here.
Others on the shortlist vying for the dubious honour were:
A Life Apart, Neel Mukherjee
Freedom, Jonathan Franzen 
The Golden Mean, Annabel Lyon
Heartbreak, Craig Raine
Maya, Alastair Campbell
Mr Peanut, Adam Ross 
The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas  
'Nobody wants to win that Award', said Margaret Atwood in 2009. Nobody that is, except Alastair Campbell, who must be feeling rather deflated... 
In the Guardian he said: 'Given that sex is an important part of a relationship and that most people are involved in some sort of a relationship at some time, it seems a pity not to write about it just because we are a bit squeamish.'
It's not sex that makes people squeamish Mr Campbell it's what you do to it with your pen...!

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