Sweet Sting of Rejection

In the midst of a seemingly endless supply of  rejection letters, it is easy to forget it happens to the best of us.
Spotting real talent seems to be a rare gift  indeed, and the truly original material is frowned upon. After all, different scares us, takes us to the uncomfortable zone- new is strange and unknown. Risky. And in business, risks are to be controlled. Familiar is often the safe bet. Let´s take a look at some of the famous rejection letters received by our very best. Luckily for us, they did not stop writing or listen to the (bad) advice.

Ursula K. Le Guin went on to publish a wide variety of books, essays, short stories and poetry, especially in the genre of science fiction and fantasy. She has collected five Hugo-awards and six Nebula-awards, and a plethora of other recognitions.

The rebellious American Gonzo-journalist Hunter S. Thompson ( 1937-2005) did not take criticism well. This is the letter he sent to his own biographer, William McKeen in 1991. "The Outlaw Journalist" on Thompson ended up being published anyways, in 2008, and gained notable praise.

Tim Burton was young and eager to get published. But his good attempt of a children´s book did not quite pass the par. Disney considered his creation too derivative. Later he went on to direct such masterpieces as
"Beetlejuice", "Nightmare before Christmas" and "Sleepy Hollow". Maybe Disney just was not ready for his colorfully macabre style back in 1976.

Although we do not have the words to look at, one quite well-known writer to receive harsh rejection letters was a British lady by the name of J. K. Rowling. She was even advised to get a day job, since "children´s books do not sell well". Her books series, depicting the adventures of Harry Potter, is now the best-selling in history.

Sweet Sting of Rejection

Annual Bad Sex Award

Yes, eighteenth annual The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award has just been announced. Jonathan Franzen narrowly escaped the pseudo-prestigious prize, as did Alaistair Campbell (former UK primer minister Tony Blair´s spokesman). The winner will join the ranks of former lucky writers, such as Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, John Updike and Jonathan Littell. Not such a bad company, now is it? Better to hang with the best group of awkward sex-writers than the worse of the worst Harlequin-dreamers.( Not that there is anything wrong with a few Harlequin-novel quickies after an exhausting week in the boiler room, kill room, cave, cubicle -however you might call it during those long afternoon hours. )

The annual prize was set up in 1993 " to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it". Hmm, redundant, discourage. Did I mention that this a British phenomenon? Of course it is. "Pornographic or expressly erotic works are excluded from the contest. " Well, of course they are. These are British, after all. If you want raunchy, you can go all overboard, but no hints, no teases, no taste of the forbidden. Please. Remember your manners!

And who was the winner? A fellow named Rowan Somerville on his work "The Shape of Her". Somerville was cheeky enough to accept prize with a statement: " There is nothing more English than Bad Sex, so on behalf of the entire nation I would like to thank you." See? He gets it.  He totally gets it.

Interestingly, "The Economist" gave the book a shiningly good review, when it was published: "A musical novel, finely plotted".
Let´s enjoy some of the highlights on Somerville´s winning poetic mind:

"A woman´s nipple is upturned like the nose of the loveliest nocturnal animal, sniffing in the night"
"Max´s lovemaking is like a lepidopterist mounting a touch-skinned insect with a too blunt pin"

Annual Bad Sex Award