Literary Review Announces Bad Sex in Fiction Nominees, 2009

When the esteemed British literature magazine Literary Review announced the 2009 nominees, I couldn't help but let my imagination drift to bad examples of sex in writing I have read, and the problems writing about sex can bring.

As I delved into the deep caress of the Literary Review article I was taken with the simple yet ravishing beauty of what was said, the absolute attraction of the well-put word. I knew at once I had to have it, a story of my own, given over to abject lust.

As I began to type, I ran my fingers lightly over the keyboard, caressing the keys as they warmed to my touch. My breathing became sharp and short, with quick gasps masquerading as drawn breath. My anticipation swelled as I inserted my rapier wit into the supple flesh of the article with little regard for anything except the passion of the moment.

Ah, bad sex in writing. It happens, just like in life. It's a worthy list compiled by the editors at Literary Review, from writers with fame both big and small. So with no further attempts at literary innuendo, here are the nominees.

Paul Theroux, A Dead Hand (Hannish Hamilton)

Nick Cave, The Death of Bunny Munro (Canongate)

Philip Roth, The Humbling (Jonathan Cape)

Jonathan Littell, The Kindly Ones (Chatto & Windus)

Amos Oz, Rhyming Life and Death (Chatto & Windus)

John Banville, The Infinities (Picador)

Anthony Quinn, The Rescue Man (Jonathan Cape)

Simon Van Booy, Love Begins in Winter (Beautiful Books)

Sanjida O'Connell, The Naked Name of Love (John Murray)

Richard Milward, Ten Storey Love Song, (Faber & Faber)

You can read more about the nominees, including nominated passages, (here)

But seriously, folks - writing about sex can be tricky. How far do you go with the perversions of your character, lest they be conflated with you, becoming the author's perversions? How anatomical do you get? Do you go descriptive, or let the narrative tell the story?

These are questions every author must ask, and ultimately - must let their work answer. This year's Bad Sex in Literature nominees do just that.