In Search of the World's Worst Writers

By Nick Page

There are many writers whose works inspire and lift us, who moves us to tears with their beauty, elegance and profundity. This book is not about them. No, this is a celebration of bad writing; a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 000274094X
• ISBN13: 9780002740944
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.5" x 1.0" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

It's all here

A considerable amount of research has gone into this excellent volume, which covers writers from the 1600s to the early 20th century. There have been many volumes of bad verse before (though few as thorough), but Nick Page has also generously included a few excerpts from bad playwrights and novelists as well. He also comments amusingly on many of the entries. The bottom line is, there isn't a page in here that won't make you grin or even laugh aloud. I think my favorite discovery herein is a man who tried to write a phrasebook of English for those learning the language, whereas he himself couldn't even speak it! Anyone with an interest in written English will not want to miss the outstandingly bad poetry and prose in this impressive collection. (Those who are fond of bad verse may also want to try to find a used copy of "Pegasus Descending," an anthology from the early seventies edited by James Camp and others. That volume is notable for its inclusion of clunkers by otherwise great poets such as Emily Dickinson.)

Laugh out loud (and READ out loud) funny!

I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one. To laugh at bad movies has been in vogue since Mystery Science Theater. To laugh at bad music is a national past time. But to laugh at bad books... now THAT is a true appreciation of mediocrity. I have been a fan of putrid fiction since I chanced upon a yellowed 50s pulp western and spent the whole afternoon giggling over it. I have taken on universally heckled (and long-winded) gothic novelist Anne Radcliffe. Nick Page has managed to take the quest for the worst writer to a new level.Yes, he finds who the worst writer is and I could not agree with him more. There is simply no way anyone could argue with him. (except for the author who maintained that all those nasty critics were just jealous!) But who can deny the following words from one of the author's two novels:"...son of my strength, idolized remnant of my inert husband, who at this moment invisibly offers the scourging whip of fatherly authority to your backbone of resentment..."And this is one of the better passages. But don't worry, there are other authors listed who are almost (though never quite) as bad. You have Margaret Cavendish Duchess of Newcastle whose poetry was all about some kind of macabre food, whose novels were hyper sci-fi trips, whose plays were so boring she actually put a warning in front of them! Or Pedro Carolino, who was going to write a Portuegese/English phrase book and wasn't about to allow the little fact that he did not actually speak english stop him! (He used a portuegese/french and then a french/english dictionary to translate everything. It shows.)Useful English phrase:He has spit in my coatThe author's asides are almost as funny as the quotations themselves. He always has something witty to say about the sometimes unreadable quotations. In fact, some of the best passages come from the Rules of Bad Writing. (Heart is more important than Art) And for anyone who just wanst to sample, all authors are organized into sub-categories. (Strange Subjects, Confused Syntax, Four stars or better)Enjoy... I think.

Outstanding! Laugh out loud funny!

This mind-boggling compendium of the "world's worst" is, as the cover advertises, a "celebration of triumphantly bad literature." The author's acerbic commentary adds its own humor. Nick Page has dared to rate the world's worst authors -- one to five stars -- and has carefully cross-referenced each author to others who wrote of similarly dreadful subjects. Don't miss the ONLY five star author in Page's lexicon. This is a great gift for literate humorists. But be warned -- the person you give this book to will call you to read you his or her favorite bits.

A roundup of amusingly bad poetry and prose

So who's the worst poet or novelist ever? Give up? If you really want to know, grab this book, where Nick Page suggests many outstanding candidates notable for their bizarre subjects, excruciating rhymes, or outright lunacy. Some examples: Nancy Luce, the Chicken poet of New England; Francis Saltus Saltus ("Sad, on Broadway next afternoon,/I strolled in listless manner,/Humming her most detested tune,/And smoking a Havana."); and, my personal favorite, James McIntyre, the great Canadian cheese poet ("Who hath prophetic vision sees/In future times a ten ton cheese"). In all, there are 41 writers profiled here, each with a few pages of biographical notes ("Dentists are frightening enough, but dentists who write poetry are utterly terrifying"), choice samples of the writer's work ("Whene'er along the ivory disks are seen,/The filthy footsteps of the dark gangrene;/...Brook no delay, ye trembling, suffering fair,/But fly for refuge to the dentist's chair."), and samples of how the work was received ("reading it is the poetic equivalent of root canal work without anaesthetic"). Most of the book is more amusing than laugh-out-loud funny, but it's a pleasantly diverting read, and particularly fun if you read it with a friend, taking turns reading the good (bad?) bits aloud to each other.