SENTIMENTALITY, under some one of its many forms, is ever ready to fasten on literatures that have become polished, and on social coteries in whose culture the intellectual mode has any part; for ...

For four decades, an English professor at San Jose State University has run a fiction contest for a single opening sentence to "the worst of all possible novels." He has decided to retire the contest.

On this day in 1860, readers first encountered some of the most unforgettable characters in fiction: Pip, Magwitch, Mrs Joe Gargery, Pumblechook, Estella, Orlick, Jaggers, Biddy and, of course, the ...

When it comes to recognizing good literature, you've got all kinds of prizes - the National Book Award, the Nobel, the Booker. But when it comes to recognizing truly bad writing, there's the ...