Thursday, December 02, 2010

Bad sex

... Robert McGinnis
The winner of the Bad Sex Award 2010 as his "winning" speech said
There's nothing more English than bad sex, so on behalf of a nation, I thank you

I thought that was a rather gracious response to receiving an award that no one wants to win.

I was intrigued to learn that his story is
about how the scars of childhood abuse affect later relationships and it's based on two people's real experience
and I wonder how the lines that have been so often quoted would appear in context. I may have to get hold of the book to find out, so it's true what they say about publicity.

The article by the award winner is here. If you're at all interested in writing books then it's worth reading.

17 COMMENTS:

Clair Humphries said...

Hats off for such a witty and gracious response! You're right though, the actual book does seem rather more serious and it would be a shame if the point of it is overlooked. Sounds intriguing...

fairyhedgehog said...

Clair, it was a gracious response and he seems like a really nice guy from the article.

Simon Kewin said...

He does come out of it well, I do agree. The "bad sex" passages I read though did make me wince rather!

Old Kitty said...

I love the comments under the guardian article - the first time I actually think people have responded to the article in The Guardian with intelligence! LOL!!!

I guess the publicity worked - now I want to read Mr Somerville's book! Take care
x

fairyhedgehog said...

Simon I winced too! But now I'm wondering if the awful images were in the mind of one of the characters, which would then make much more sense.

fairyhedgehog said...

Kitty, I agree that some of those comments are very sensible. I bet it boosts the sales a lot!

Carol Kilgore said...

The author, himself, is quite a class act IMO. Thanks for stopping by Under the Tiki Hut.

fairyhedgehog said...

Hi Carol, I'd agree about the author being a class act!

Lexi said...

FH, what on EARTH is going on in that illustration?

jjdebenedictis said...

The bad sex literary awards always leaving me feeling a bit "hmm..."

Taken out of context, ANY sex scene is embarrassing and funny. Plus, by what criteria is this judged? It's bad because it's bad writing? Or because it failed to seem sexy to the person reading it?

There are plenty of occasions when a writer wouldn't want a scene--even a sex scene--to be titillating.

I thought the excerpts for this year's winner demonstrated good writing in the sense that they were very specific and made the reader picture the scene exactly. It wasn't titillating, but perhaps it wasn't supposed to be.

fairyhedgehog said...

Lexi, good question! I have no idea.

jj, I've never written a sex scene so I suppose I'm not in a position to criticise! Seeing the author's justification of his words certainly made me think again about what the scenes were trying to achieve.

Lexi said...

My daughter said it's quite obvious what is happening in the illustration.

After an evening out together, the handsome spy and gorgeous female were overcome by passion, and, cigarette in hand, he started to undo her buttons and her bra. His hands were cold; she started, tripped over the mat, and twisted her ankle. He took off her shoe, and kindly rubbed her foot in an effort to help. Feeling better, she tried to get up, only to discover she had ricked her back as well. So she put her hand on his shoulder for support.

Simple, really.

fairyhedgehog said...

Lexi, are you going to be co-authoring books with your daughter or does she plan to make her name separately? She's clearly inherited your talent as a writer!

Robin B. said...

Oh, I love love love these awards! They are so well-deserved, it's a hoot.

fairyhedgehog said...

Robin, some of the writing is definitely hysterical when taken out of context! It's an award I'd hate to get.

Mother (Re)produces. said...

Yay! Diversion!

fairyhedgehog said...

M(R)p, I suppose it is!

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