Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Image. Advertisement:

Frey wins Bad S-x in Fiction Award

US author James Frey has received the 2018 Bad S-x in Fiction Award, the Literary Review’s annual prize for ‘poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction’.

Frey won for his novel Katerina (John Murray), which was chosen from a shortlist of seven.

The story follows Jay, a young aspiring writer from America, as he ‘drinks and bonks his way around Paris’, and becomes involved with a Norwegian model named Katerina.

The judges cited several scenes from the novel, including encounters in a car park and in the back of a taxi, but were especially convinced by a lengthy scene in a Paris bathroom.

The Literary Review told the Guardian: ‘Frey prevailed against a strong all-male shortlist by virtue of the sheer number and length of dubious erotic passages in his book. The multiple scenes of sustained fantasy in Katerina could have won Frey the award many times over.’

The winner was announced at an event in the UK on 3 December.

For more information, visit the Literary Review website.

 

Tags:

Category: Awards International news