“For those whose ganglia were formed pre-TV, the mimetic deployment of pop-culture icons seems at best an annoying tic and at worst a dangerous vapidity that compromises fiction's seriousness by dating it out of the Platonic Always, where it ought to reside.” SeemsCultureFictionWorstDangerousTvsOughtDatingPopsCompromiseAnnoyingSeriousnessPop CultureIconsDeploymentPlatonicTics Author:Jonathan Lethem
“Many of the early greats of sf Hugo Gernsback (publisher of Amazing Stories) in particular saw themselves as educators. The didactic thrust of science fiction got the genre initially pegged as children's fare. It was seen, at its best, as an extension of school and, at its worst, as teenage wish fulfillment.” ChildrenStoriesSchoolWishFictionSawsWorstParticularScience FictionGenreFulfillmentExtensionsTeenagePublishersThrustEducatorDidactic Author:Samuel R. Delany
“The two worst sins of bad taste in fiction are pornography and sentimentality. One is too much sex and the other too much sentiment.” TwoSexSinFictionToo MuchWorstTasteSentimentsPornographySentimentalityBad Taste Author:Flannery O'Connor
“In fiction, as in real life, love might inspire acts that are at best foolish and at worst life-threatening, but in the best romances, love is the final, secret ingredient that turns mere mortals into heroes and heroines.” RealMightRomanceTurnsLove IsSecretFictionWorstInspireHeroMereFinalsFoolishReal LifeMortalsLove LifeIngredientsThreateningHeroinesRomance LoveHeroes And HeroinesMere Mortals Author:Sarah MacLean
“Don't take our word for it. Read the Bible itself. Read the statements of preachers. And you will understand that God is the most desperate character, the worst villain in all fiction.” CharacterFictionWorstStatementsDesperateVillainPreacherOur Words Author:E. Haldeman-Julius
“Given that most movies are bad, and that there are whole categories and sub-categories of badness - the sequel, the Madonna Movie, the Friday 13th Series, or Movies Starring John Travolta Before Pulp Fiction - it is almost impossible to choose a single film for worst movie of all time. But strangely, I do have a nomination and I believe it is actually the worst movie ever made. It is Boxing Helena. The director is David Lynch's daughter, and the film comes with the almost insane-making faults that the family connection might imply.” BelieveMadeWholeMightFilmGivenI BelieveFictionImpossibleWorstDirectorsDaughterConnectionsFaultsSeriesInsaneAll TimeMade ItBoxingCategoriesFridayMovie StarSequelsNominationsBadnessPulpWorst MovieFamily Connections Author:Andrew O'Hagan
“The best writing advice I ever got was "Keep moving forward, don't retreat into rewrites." The worst came from a book that said "Writing fiction is like telling lies," which just seems stupid to me.” WritingSaidBookSeemsMovingLyingFictionWorstAdviceStupidMoving ForwardRetreatKeep MovingKeep Moving ForwardWriting AdviceWriting FictionTelling Lies Author:David B. Coe
“That's one of the reasons I take a lot of consolation in fiction. You have years to work on it. I think that allows you to reach for the best part of your reader instead of a lot of the internet stuff, in which you're kind of reaching for the worst or the most shallow part of your reader.” ThinkingYearsKindReasonStuffFictionWorstReaderInternetReachingShallowConsolation Author:George Saunders