I recently had an e-mail conversation with an author whose opinions I value highly about the way I write about books I don’t enjoy, and how some particularly terrible novels were a running joke on the website. And the latter was something she didn’t get, had never gotten. I’ll admit up front that I’m an asshole, and I tend to drive a point into the ground, so I could see why she wouldn’t think me joking about A Certain Author’s Novels representing the Asymptote of Bad Books was especially amusing—that it constituted a species of harassment, in fact, against the author. I didn’t agree with her, but I could see how people could get that impression.
Then she said, and I’m paraphrasing with wild abandon here, “We get that you don’t like her books, but you know what? Other people do. You think her books are terrible, and that other people shouldn’t enjoy them, and her publishers shouldn’t publish them.”
And that’s when I realized that people often read a whole world of motivation and intent into my words, despite the fact that by and large, I lay it all out there for people to see and read. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not especially good at keeping my opinions hidden.
So here’s one thing I want to make clear, once and for all:
I don’t want people to stop reading the things they love, even when I think they’re absolutely terrible. Why would I? They love it. That’s excellent. I may shit all over the book you love, but that doesn’t mean I want to deprive you of the right to read it and enjoy it. In fact, I want you to engage me about why you enjoyed it, and disagree with me about the points I’m making. I loves me some vigorous, informed argument. I may think you have terrible taste (depending on how bad the book is), but I promise you that I won’t think you’re stupid based solely on the fact that you enjoy something I don’t, or that you’re wrong for liking what you like. I’m a reader of romance novels, ferchrissakes; this means far too many people who don’t know me assume I’m stupid based solely on a genre I read. I’m not about to inflict that particular brand of assholishness on other people. (There are so many other superior varieties to choose from.)
Which brings me to my next point: I have encountered people who say things like “One of my friends just loves The Worst Author Ever, and I don’t know why those Smart Bitches have to be so mean about those books, because my friend who reads them is a perfectly nice person.”
See, to me, those statements have nothing to do with anything. My dislike of a book and consequent assessment of the author’s skill have absolutely no bearing on the character or moral fiber of the reader. I wish people would stop making the leap from “This book is awful, and if you love it, you have bad taste” to “This book is awful, and if you love it, you’re stupid” or “This book is awful, and if you love it, you’re a bad person” or “This book is awful, and if you love it, I won’t like you any more.” Similarly, I wish authors wouldn’t make the leap from “This book is awful, which means you failed at writing a good novel” to “This book is awful, which means you failed at being a good human being.”
And then there’s also the issue of good books vs. bad books vs. books you love, which is something I’ve struggled with for a while; unlike the absolute relativists (how d’you like THAT particular turn of phrase, eh?), I do think there’s such a thing as objective measures for how good or bad a book is, and that sometimes, you love something absolutely terrible, and other times, you dislike something that’s actually good.
And yes, that means you are guilty of the crime of suffering from the occasional bout of bad taste. You know what? We’re all guilty of it. I say, embrace it. Poor aesthetic judgment is not a measure of your intelligence, nor is it a moral failing. Own your bad taste. Hell, own your mediocre taste. Proclaim it to the skies.
I’ll start.
Dara Joy’s books are absolutely terrible. They’re clunkily written, the heroines are annoying as all hell, the heroes are utterly ridiculous, the poor excuse for science fiction plots make me cringe, and their liberal use of SF Gobbledegook makes me cringe even harder. But I love them so.
Those old Mills and Boon novels, in which the hero (who’s usually about 35) at some point grabs the heroine (who’s usually about 19) and gives her a punishing kiss? So. Bad. They’re clumsily written, and awful in all sorts of ways—the repugnant gender politics alone made me seethe with rage, and this was back when I was 11, mind you, when all I could articulate about what I didn’t like about those books was that “they weren’t fair to the heroine and the hero got to win way too often.” You know what? I still found them compelling, and I read them by the boatload.
I could happily go for a week eating nothing but Spam sandwiches. Thinking about it makes me want one now. And very few foods have as little to redeem it as Spam: its nutritional profile is atrocious, and its flavor is this eerie mélange of blandness, saltiness and overcooked meat. I mean, at least foods like natto are so foul, saying you like it gives you a sort of cachet—you’re hardcore, man, you eat natto. Spam? Just indicates your tolerance for sodium and sketchy meat is probably higher than it should be.
Remember Temptation Island? Holy shit, I loved that TV show. I watched every episode with unalloyed glee.
And Joe Millionaire? Yeah. I have no excuse for that one.
Let’s not even get started on how I used to compulsively watch Blind Date. I’m glad I no longer use my TV to watch anything other than DVDs these days.
Come on. You do it, too. “I love this particular book despite how bad it is. Shit, I love it because of how bad it is.” Say it out loud, you got no taste and you’re proud.
(All kidding aside, ultimately, I think these snap judgments and conflations regarding good taste = good moral character have to do with cultural shorthand about your socioeconomic class (“Oh there you go, bringing class into it again!”), but I don’t have the time or energy to delve into it right now. Have at it in the comments, though. Come out with your Marxist/post-colonialist /post-structuralist/ post-post-post-post-post-modern/ nth-wave feminist fists swingin’.)
Ah, I may have forgotten to mention—that’s COLD gravy.
Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
Luuuurve it!
Love every trashy perfect scene in which she conquers London with her oh-so-unique-and-rebellious-high-spirits-and-beauty,
and I adore all the angst and ridiculousness of the whole I-paid-your-father-for-you-plz-fall-in-lurve-with-me-now-
OMG-you-slept-with-the-stableboy-GAH!-I-practically-
raped-you-oh-the-misunderstandings!-
whose-your-babydaddy-murder-attempt plot!
In fact I love her entire oeuvre… Total comfort trashy novels that I can always curl up with and read.
I “embraced” my bad taste, then got a divorce…
Alessia – I can see the misogyny.(Stranger in a Strange Land pops into mind first) I also see an author who gave us Friday and Captain Hildy. And for the rest of it? I just don’t care.
Independance Day? I’m totally in the Bill Paxton camp. President jet fighter, yes please!
I don’t think liking something you know is bad is an example of bad taste. If anything it’s good taste since you acknowledge it as a guilty pleasure. I think it’s a different thing, though, to like something bad without seeing the flaws.
For example, I love the Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, a piece that is roundly condemned by classical music listeners as bombastic and cheesy. I love it anyway. I found myself in a bizarre argument recently, though, with some who loved it unironically. I ended up arguing against it, pointing out all of its flaws, and condemning the other person for liking it, even though I love it, too. Essentially, it’s fine to love trash if you know it’s trash. But if you don’t know it, then you can be accused of having bad taste, and in that case coming across a critical review of it can seem like a classist condemnation of taste, like the reviewer is patronizing the enjoyer-of-bad-art as not knowing any better.
That being said, I think it’s bull. If something has flaws, we should be able to point them out without worrying about offending authors and readers. I mean, that’s half the fun.
(I own the “Power Rangers Rock Adventure” album. And I love it.)
Oh, god, no one else has even mentioned my secret shame. I love the sappy, syrupy stories. I have a little corner of Ellswyth Thane on my bookshelves. Give me the lone survivor of a dynasty of men who loved their house and land more than they loved their wives meeting up with the woman who loves the house as much they do and I go all woozy and melt. Oh no – now I want to reread it! again!
I love all the ‘admissions’ and will admit to some guilty pleasures later on, but before that I wanted to share an observation about the issue of ‘hate my reading taste, hate me’.
I’m a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold and on her mailing list. It’s really been interesting to see how many of her fans – many male, but not exclusively – would happily trash romance at any opportunity until Bujold came out with more ‘romancy’ books and also started talking about all the romances she’s been inspired by or is reading currently.
The ‘nobody would read that romance trash’ talk has abated. Go figure. grin
I still laugh imagining all these ‘we read SF and are therefore superior to romance readers’ folks getting that foul taste in their mouth… ‘oh my God, she wrote a romance and I read it and I liked it… ick’ he he
It seems to be in human nature to want to be able to feel superior to somebody else.
My guilty admission. I do feel superior to the readers of CE. I know it’s not politically correct, I know I shouldn’t, but I do. There, I admitted it. I wonder whether I feel better now? Confession being good for the soul and all.
My former guilty pleasure (can’t read them any more due to the writing style making me dizzy) was Rosemary Rogers. Reading about Steve and Ginny made me literally feel dirty, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
Thank the spirits, I’m over that… he he.
Current guilty pleasures are Silhouette Desires. Some of them are actually quite good, some not so… 🙂
I own a copy of Urban “I’m sorry all the way back to the first time I hit you” Cowboy…and I recommend it to friends.
And for all the Bill Paxton fans, you simply must see Broken Lizard’s Club Dredd. It’s by the same group that made Super Troopers and Beerfest. My favorite Bill line, “Do you think Eddie Money has to put up with this shit!?”
lot75: yeah, I have a lot of bad taste and could go on, but I’m late for work
I feel like I am at confession. Father forgive me for I have sinned..
I love Barry Manilow! Especially his Christmas album. Hell I’ll pull it out in summer just to hear him sing Baby It’s Cold Outside.
Man I know I’ll catch hell for this but I love me some Sherrilyn “swan hat” Kenyon novels. The Darkhunters are the best thing evha! I also love Dara Joy & all books that contain a sheik. Sad, I KNOW!
The movie Rhinestone, Sylvester Stallone + Dolly Parton + Country Music in NYC = Sheer friggin’ genius!
Please also add me to the Transformer fan list – I had to wait for the movie to come to home video because I knew I would embarass myself if I saw it in public. I was right because my inner geek had an orgasm while watching it.
I also love disaster movies too and I watched 10.5 on the Sci fi channel yesterday. I also love their crappy dinosaur movies too! Pterodactyl? Oh yeah count me in for some B movie fun.
Spam = yummy when fried crispy, and thank to my southern granny I love fried potato sandwiches & butter sandwiches too.
I understand if no one ever wants to speak to me again.
Well, I guess I truly have bad taste, Ivy, because I didn’t know I was supposed to be ashamed of liking/adoring/overdosing on half the things listed by the bitchery as shameful.
Then again, I’ve always known that I have bad taste, so there goes that one.
Perhaps I can be shamed by saying that I don’t understand chocolate cravings?
Perfect day (n) puuurfect duh-hey: Ruffles potato chips, because Ruffles have ridges; sour cream, onion soup mix, Penfold’s cab sauv (bin 407 if you’re at all interested) and Lifetime Television For Women. Not the half-way respectable stuff either. That movie where the chick finds out her husband has another wife and after battling anorexia, multiple assaults by her dentist while she was sedated, finding out that the loser who stole her husband is in fact her long-lost twin, kills him, the long-lost twin, reunites with her son who was kidnapped when he was five, goes to jail, writes a bestseller, gets out of jail, falls in love with the supportive neighbor who’s been there all along and lives happily ever after.
I won’t answer the phone if Lifetime does a marathon of these things.
And thanks to all of you who mentioned Kraft Mac & Cheese. First thing I thought when I read those entries was, “wouldn’t mac & cheese be De-Vine instead of Ruffles despite their ridges? Especially if I added a little more Velveeta.
Oh heck.
I lubs me some oddball stuff (often cheesy) sometimes.
Sometimes, if a reviewer of a movie states, “It sucks”, it might just be for me. I end up loving it and its a keeper. Same way if a movie gets great reviews. I watch it and say “Dang, this is dog doo doo.”
But I do try to sample everything, just so I don’t get stagnant. Hey, as with what this post is about, you find a gem amongst the thorns. If your mind had been closed entirely to such things, well you’d have lost a good read.
Being willing to set aside preconceived notions is the greatest of intellectual talents, in my humble opinon.
Mmmm….Velveeeeeeta…
My mom makes this dish called ‘Sin Potatoes’—potatoes, bacon, and Velveeta , all wrapped up in a lovely casserole. I can feel my arteries hardening as I eat it and still can’t get enough.
Journey. Lovin’ Touchin’ and Squeezin’ comes on the radio and I turn it up so loud ears bleed in neighboring cars (or maybe that’s because I’m singing along at the top of my voice)
Air Supply.
The Rose, the Conway Twitty version (hangs head in shame).
Buffy. Gimme some Angel and Spike baby.
Karen Robards historical romance. I think it was Loving Julia. The BJ scene in the carriage, OMG I can still fantasize about that one!
And I agree with whoever said Rosemary Rogers. I always feel dirty but couldn’t ever put them down. And if a man ever really treated me that way he’d be on the way to a plastic surgeon.
Wait, wait, wait, Robinjn. No way is my girl Buffy considered bad taste, poor quality, or something to feel guilty about. “Buffy” was, is, and always will be brilliant television.
Aaargh, natto. My boyfriend eats natto. I don’t understand how the hell he does it.
I’ve been fighting with myself lately over the fact that I, a perfectly rational, feminist, successful twentysomething, like Disney princesses. I went to see two movies two weekends in a row—one was Enchanted, the other was Michael Clayton. I loved Enchanted, even though I can point to exactly where the plot falls apart a little or erupt with an “Oh come ON” in the middle of a scene, and I sat through Michael Clayton going “god, what’s even happening in this movie, how could anyone find this interesting, kill me now.” I still can’t shake the feeling that I am somehow stupider than the rest of the world because I eat up fairy tales and deep intellectual legal or political dramas can bite my shiny metal ass.
Still. Disney princesses. Love ‘em. Good god.
Buffy is brilliant! Please.
Ditto Transformers! Go Bumblebee!
Oh, I LOVE disaster flicks, too!!
I am home here.
Two words … Diana. Palmer.
But only when I’m PMSing …
[sob] This is like Post Secret, without the stamp! Thanks, Bitches.
— Bonz
Wait, wait, wait, Robinjn. No way is my girl Buffy considered bad taste, poor quality, or something to feel guilty about. “Buffy†was, is, and always will be brilliant television.
Okay, maybe it’s because all my friends look at me like I have 3 heads when I try to enlighten them on the Genius of Whedon.
Firefly I absolutely refuse to apologize for. Mal, Mal, Mal baby.
I love the old Harlequins, where the guy is a surgeon/lawyer/rich guy and the girl is a young poor girl with a huge family to support and he falls madly in love with her. Formulaic, yep. Love them. And they’re usually short so they’re like an hour of escapism and then you’re back to reality if you have to be.
Actors – The Rock. Mmmmmmn. He is smokin’ hot.
Food – Sardines. In oil. I can eat a whole can, straight. Yum! And those tiny powdered donuts that come in a box. The more chemical-weird smelling, the better.
Movies – Highlander. Aaaaaah. Oh, to be Heather with my beloved Christopher slightly-crosseyed but oh-so-hot-in-a-kilt Lambert. Most romantic movie ever, even though yeah, it hasn’t stood the test of time all that well (hello 80s!)
And let me not forget to mention again my unabashed love of the Beauty and the Beast tv show with Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.
Oh where to begin…
First I must say it warms the cockles of my spinster heart to know others out there share so many of my guilty pleasures.
Disaster Flicks. I want to marry them and have disaster babies. If shit blows up I’m so there.
The horrible movies the SciFi Channel forces upon us. They’re like dork crack for me. I also was a huge fan of Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Yeah, I know. But Bruce Boxlietner with feathered hair and a Corvette, come on…
I LOVE Ramen noodles. I think it’s the salt. If I could have a salt lick in my back yard, I’d be happy. I also adore PopTarts. They have absolutely no redeeming food value, but I can eat a box of brown sugar cinnamon ‘Tarts with out batting an eye.
I <3 ABBA. I have the Monkees on my ipod. Any and all music of the 1980’s makes me inordinately happy. I also think that Lyle Lovett is incredibly sexy. Julie Roberts was an idiot to divorce him.
My guilty reading pleaseure is Betty Neels. I own all of her Alpha Male, young heorine mysogonistic books and LOVE THEM.
Wow. That was so freeing. Thank you SBs, thank you!
Squeeing like the dork I am:
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
I used to tape that show religiously because it was on in syndication at 1am, and I’d watch them after school. OMG I Loved that show. Boxleitner was HAWT.
I also love n*sync. And the TV show Moonlight. And Kraft mac n cheese. And Dara Joy. (Although I hated Ritual Proof, which was supposed to be the “good” one.) And I complain about how bad they are, but I still pick up LKH when I see one at the library.
Overboard is one of my favorite movies. It’s terrible, but so good. Watched it just last weekend.
I Tivo Flash Gordon and The Girls Next Door. Did anyone else notice that both Moonlight and Flash Gordon got rid of the inconvenient Other Man last Friday? Interesting. And the Girls? I want to dislike them. How can a twenty-something woman agree to “date” an 80+ yo man? And be one of three live-in girlfriends? And they’re kind of dingy. But they seem so nice! Bridget is my favorite.
Christmas just isn’t Christmas if I don’t catch A Very Brady Christmas sometime in December.
I listen to the Pussycat Dolls. Did you know that Nicole was on a reality show years ago that put together another girl group called Eden’s Crush? I so loved that show. And I still have their CD.
And I love the song “Foolin’ Around” by Patsy Cline. So politically incorrect. So catchy.
I read every Jayne Ann Krentz book I can lay hands on. They’re all the same book, over and over again. But I still love them.
How weird is it that copping to the JAK thing was harder than all the rest of those confessions combined? I didn’t want to admit that an author I read (that no one else had mentioned yet) is bad.
reached38- not yet, thanks
I consider myself the most fortunate of women to have found a man who reads…
…crappy science fiction.
BALES and BALES and BALES of it. The cheesier the picture on the cover, the more avidly he consumes it. (Women in bronze bras are good, but women WITH ANIMAL HEADS in bronze bras are even better.)
I am secure in the knowledge that he will never mock my literary taste; nor am I in any position to mock his.
Hey, *I* read those books with the women in bronze bras on the cover. They are fine, fine, books, I tell you.
Gads, this is like confession time and I’m not even Catholic.
Music: Bee Gees
Movies: Lethal Weapon series, Die Hard series and probably any movie ever made by Bruckheimer.
TV: I am an Alias fanactic, fell in love with Michael Vartan on the spot.
Books: (this one is for Beth) Gaylen Foley.
Food: I draw the line at Spam, but I love the other mystery meat: hot dogs.
SB Sarah- come on down. I have the first 2 seasons on DVD. popcorn available upon request….
Thought of a few more now-
Errol Flynn- O.M.G.
Davy Jones- Brittish accents just *do it* to me. My first “crush”.
Def Leppard- love that band.( also see above )
Nancy Drew books- have them all, passed them down to my 2 girls, and I still read them from time to time.
I think people just take this shit way too personal, that’s all. Or, maybe they’ve always been on the right side (if there is a right side) of pop culture and hate to think people would dislike something they like.
On the other hand, I’m getting a kick out of this thread so I hope it never ends!
I like a lot of things that have been mentioned here. Transformers, certainly. Since way back in the 80s, although I prefer Ironhide to Bumblebee. And yes, I own the movie. The cartoon movie. Voiced by Judd Nelson. That’s right, I said Judd Nelson.
Love Judd.
Grease 2. That’s right. 2, not 1. Michelle Pfeiffer? Even SHE hates that movie. Crazy bitca. That movie is the shit! 🙂 She don’t know good.
And any romance book that starts from a premise of a failed relationship. Did they used to be married? Sign me up. old lovers? Yep. Boyfriend/Girlfriend on the playground? I’m there. I LOVE that.
Michael Shanks. From Stargate? If he’s in it, I’m there. Anywhere. Megasnake? Most terrible-ist movie evah. Uh huh, I saw it. (And wouldn’t that just be an awesome title for a romance book, Nora? Come on. Don’t let me down!)
And, finally, I loved both the ST:Enterprise theme song AND the show.
God, I really DO suck. Nevermind…..
ok. i love transformers. seriously. i can still sing “you’ve got the touch” from the animated movie.
i still haven’t brought myself to watch the new movie. i was horrified when i saw a preview and realized they changed bumblebee from a bug to a friggin’ mustang. any other autobot they wanted to change would have been fine, but my childhood love for bumblebee is still alive and kickin’ and THAT’S JUST WRONG!!!
(my friends have started referring to this as my “transformers rant”)
they’ve ruined my childhood!
*sigh*
My biggest guilty pleasure? Sci-fi/horror flicks from the 70’s. Man, I just love, love, LOOOOOOOVE anything about the 70’s (including ABBA :)). Logan’s Run, Scanners, Shivers, Dawn of the Dead, Star Wars, Alien, etc. Not that all of them are bad per se but there’s something about the 70’s cheese that just oozes so wonderfully, even in the best of them.
And regarding the taboo against negative criticism by women: it’s not just that the people who run this site are women, although that’s surely a big part of it. This genre is almost entirely by/for women, and women tend to self-regulate other womens’ “unfeminine” behavior (how often do *men* stand around making catty remarks about a woman’s clothes?) Many of us love kick-ass heroine’s – including the ones who runt his site! – as a rebellion against this false ideal of femininity. There’s a fascinating post on Alas, a Blog on this topic(http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/05/23/q-since-when-is-being-criticized-like-having-your-limbs-blown-off-by-a-landmine-a-since-that-criticism-came-from-someone-with-less-privilege-than-you/)
One other thing… Quite honestly, I *do* wonder how the hell anyone can read Cassie Edwards’ books. Not to say that I think they shouldn’t be published, but, you know, there’s bad and then there’s *bad*, and CE’s books are a whole other level of bad. And I firmly uphold the right to poke fun at things I find hilariously awful.
Disney princesses! (insert squee that only dogs can hear) I love Disney princesses. But if I see Princess Aurora in that pink dress one more time, I will hurt someone. Her dress was BLUE, dammit!
I live for Disney Channel original movies, too. Halloweentown, High School Musical, loved ‘em. But my heart belongs to the Twitches and Wendy Woo Homecoming Warrior. I might as well be twelve again when they come on.
OK, here’s what I’m willing to confess in public:
I like the Carpenters and Captain and Tennille.
I like Edith Hull’s “The Sheik”—the original bodice-ripper! And the movie with Rudolph Valentino is just so hot!
My favorite breakfast is grits, corned beef hash, and eggs over easy, sopped up with toasted Wonderbread.
And I will watch “Pretty Woman” every time it comes on TV, ‘cause I’m a sucker for Cinderella romance …
(and my word for the day is: section41)
Fine. Just fine.
Jem, who is truly outrageous.
Thunder Cats.
See what you people have done?
For me, my music guilty pleasure is Kelly Clarkson. Girl has pipes.
And I also like books by Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle. They do get repetitive after awhile, but I like them because she never uses the Big Misunderstanding as a long drawn out plot device. If there is a Misunderstanding it’s solved fairly quickly in a few pages.
Susan Elizabeth Philips novels. I hate football, why do I luvs me football romance?
Judge Judy.
Hogan’s Heroes (yes, yes, I know).
Strawberry milk.
Surf movies…think Blue Crush (yes, I own it).
I am so relieved not to be the first to admit to the BeeGees. Yep, even the disco stuff. I loves me some bi-shonen falsetto harmony.
Transformers. Oh yes. As far as the animated series, Beastwars rules. And I let out just a tiny little squee when the shiny red Optimus diesel came on screen in the feature film. Which the whole family went to see at the special late-night sneak preview. Daughter-in-law and I were singing along to Linkin Park at the end.
Jeff Foxworthy. Redneck humor. I listen to that stuff and laugh so hard I can scarcely breathe.
Oh, MXC, Ninja Warrior, the Japanese version of Iron Chef…. I love them all
I also have a weakness for (some of the) bad reality TV shows… like the Hills, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team…
sad, but true…
My guilty pleasure is “Goonies”—I have probably seen it 200 times and I still love it. When it’s on tv, I stop and watch it even though I own the dang thing. What can I say—I love the relationship between Chunk and Sloth.
Mama nice: Holy Crap! Young Riders! I wrote Ike McSwain fanfic!
Barry Manilow- I heart the song Mandy!
Anything Riddick!
Moonlight- what’s a bitch to do when Wheadon goes out of the vampire business? Love the the glossy rich vampy coating and the gooey angsty center!
Anything with William Fictner in it!
Same with Mila Jojovitch. and When they were in the same movie together? JOYGASAM!!!!
My last meal on earth?
tinned smoked oysters eaten with a toothpick only washed down by a diet coke.