Guterson wins dreaded Bad Sex in Fiction literary award

AMERICAN author David Guterson has joined John Updike, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer and other literary stars as the recipient of the dreaded Bad Sex in Fiction award.

Guterson won the 2011 “prize” for sex scenes in his new novel “Ed King”, which offers a modern take on the Oedipus myth and sets it in the second half of the 20th century.

The acclaimed author of “Snow Falling on Cedars” took the tongue-in-cheek honour in his stride: “Oedipus practically invented bad sex, so I’m not in the least bit surprised,” Guterson said in response to his victory.

The choice was announced at a gala event at the Naval & Military Club in London.

The scene cited by the judges deals with the part of the myth where the son makes love with his mother. It describes a night of abandon that includes a soapy shower interlude. The protagonist “massaged, kneaded, stretched, rubbed, pinched, flicked, feathered, licked, kissed, and gently bit her shoulders” And it finished this way: “Then they rinsed, dried, dressed, and went to an expensive restaurant for lunch.”

He used phrases like “family jewels”, “back door” and “front parlour” throughout.

Guterson managed to beat off strong competition from Haruki Murakami’s novel 1Q84, containing the line: “A freshly made ear and a freshly made vagina look very much alike, Tengo thought”.

The Literary Review has given out the award each year since 1993. It was established by Auberon Waugh to highlight the “crude, tasteless and often perfunctory” way in which sex is described in modern novels, and to discourage it.

The list of finalists this year included Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, Sebastian Barry, James Frey, Peter Nadas, horror master Stephen King, Jean M Auel, and several others.