Through a gap between the straining buttons of his shirt he palps with idel fingers the folds of his belly, eyeing lazily, like the happy faun he is at heart, the sweltering back of stirless tress that edges the garden. Full Article at Blogcritics.org

Does public scorn and ridicule deter future crimes? That principle of penology undergirds the Bad Sex Prize, mounted annually with such vim and vigour by the Literary Review. Full Article at The Independent

Happily, though, there were plenty more titles to choose from. This was, as Booker chairman John Sutherland pointed out, an "exceptional year" for fiction, with new novels from Salman Rushdie, JM Coetzee and Julian Barnes. Full Article at Guardian Unlimited

Award-winner Jonathan Littell: don't let him cook you breakfast The annual prize was contested by literary heavyweights Philip Roth for The Humbling, John Banville for The Infinites and Paul Theroux for A Dead Hand. However. Full Article at Metro.co.uk

The tome, which narrates the story of the Holocaust through the eyes of one of the executioners, bagged the award beating the works of the likes of Philip Roth, John Banville, Paul Theroux and the literary rock star Nick Cave. Full Article at New Kerala

The Kindly Ones, which tells the story of the Holocaust through the eyes of one of the executioners, beat off stiff competition from a stellar shortlist that included entries from Philip Roth, John Banville, Paul Theroux and the literary rock star Nick... Full Article at Guardian Unlimited

It may not be the Nobel Prize, but the competition for this year’s “Bad Sex in Fiction” award is just as stiff (cringe — pun intended). Full Article at Flavorwire

“Categories are like walls,” says bestselling author Michael Connelly, “and walls keep people out.” What separates the genre of crime fiction from literary fiction may be more membrane than wall, but it's still a barrier that is often tricky to... Full Article at Publishers Weekly

The third book penned under John Banville’s crime-writer pseudonym revolves around John Glass, a worn-out Irish international correspondent who has recently moved to New York City. Full Article at Irish Times

Having been shortlisted once again for the Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award, John Banville jokes that he’ll avoid the subject altogether in the future, writes FIONA McCANN ‘ALBA HAS stepped out of her dress in one flowing, stylised movement,... Full Article at Irish Times

British magazine the Literary Review has announced the shortlist of finalists for its Bad Sex Award. Full Article at Los Angeles Times

'He takes a floating step forward...She puts her hands flat against his chest and leans into him in a simulacrum of a swoon, making a mewling sound.'—John Banville, The Infinities 'Her hands were all over me, four hands it seemed, or more than... Full Article at CBC News

Philip Roth's The Humbling "Roth can comfort himself with the fact that a roll call of literary fiction's great and good, from Booker winner John Banville to acclaimed Israeli novelist Amos Oz, Goncourt winner Jonathan Littell and Whitbread winner... Full Article at ArtsJournal

Singer Nick Cave has joined Booker winner John Banville, Philip Roth and Paul Theroux on the shortlist for this year’s Bad Sex in Fiction award…The annual prize, awarded by Literary Review magazine, focuses on “redundant passages of sexual description”. Full Article at The Daily Swarm

Working overtime at the office for the next little while, so check Twitter if it's quiet here. Nabokov's Laura, says John Banville, is "little more than a blurred outline, a preliminary shiver of a novel. And yet." "There were many of us." Full Article at Maud Newton

Singer turned author Nick Cave, Booker winner John Banville and veteran novelist Philip Roth are among the writers to have made the shortlist for this year's Bad Sex in Fiction award. Full Article at BBC News

Singer Nick Cave has joined Booker winner John Banville, Philip Roth and Paul Theroux on the shortlist for this year's Bad Sex in Fiction award. Full Article at BBC News

The story of the seduction of a lesbian by an ageing stage actor, which includes an eye-watering scene with a green dildo, has won Philip Roth the dubious honour of a place on the shortlist for the Literary Review's bad sex in fiction award. Full Article at Guardian Unlimited

I'm in the midst of a huge project at the office, so, for the next little while, check Twitter if it's quiet here. Nabokov's Laura, says John Banville, is "little more than a blurred outline, a preliminary shiver of a novel. And yet." Full Article at Maud Newton