Trash lit you actually enjoy

I'm heading out so I'll be brief.

I'm not sure if it counts as total trash, but I've always had a soft spot for Carl Hiassen. He strikes me as a kind of brash, neon, indignant crusader.

But I know quite a few people who think his books aren't too far off Grisham for lovers of slapstick grime.

Rolling Stone

Will Tupper's threads

Shel Silverstein

michael chrichton. love his stuff. especially the dinosaur stuff. LOVE IT.

[QUOTE=snuffy]michael chrichton. love his stuff. especially the dinosaur stuff. LOVE IT.[/QUOTE]
me too.

I also like reading sidney sheldon I admit it.

also bad sci fi. i am currently on the tour of the minor works of Philip K. Dick. i'm loving life right now.

That's great and all, but care to explain [I]why[/I] you enjoy those things with as much regard as the more accepted pieces of literature in the literary community?

You guys are going to lose all respect for me if I write down all the crap I read. OH well.

Because of my geeky Anne Rice trash horror sensibilities left over from childhood that I can't seem to shake, I like to read early Anne Rice, especially The Witching Hour, Poppy Z Brite, Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries, Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series and sundry YA vampire and witch novels including LJ Smith and Cate Tiernan's Sweep series.

[QUOTE=snuffy]also bad sci fi. i am currently on the tour of the minor works of Philip K. Dick. i'm loving life right now.[/QUOTE]

That's not trash dammitt!

I have to totally agree about Jurassic Park. I read it a while ago though, so it may not be the case now - but anything dino or shark related and I'm hooked.

As to why?

Because it's a cracking read and it's got dinosaurs in it.

[QUOTE=Undertow]That's great and all, but care to explain [I]why[/I] you enjoy those things with as much regard as the more accepted pieces of literature in the literary community?[/QUOTE]
I enjoy reading some of this stuff cause it give my brain a vacation. I have to read a lot of boring journals and sift through a lot of technical writing for classes so when I'm reading for pleasure I sometimes prefer something that I don't have to think about. It's like watching dude where's my car, you do it for the laugh er whatever, not for the content of the story of the quality of the writing.

[QUOTE=Riddlegimp]That's not trash dammitt!

I have to totally agree about Jurassic Park. I read it a while ago though, so it may not be the case now - but anything dino or shark related and I'm hooked.

As to why?

Because it's a cracking read and it's got dinosaurs in it.[/QUOTE]

That works for me. Thank you.

[QUOTE=Undertow]That's great and all, but care to explain [I]why[/I] you enjoy those things with as much regard as the more accepted pieces of literature in the literary community?[/QUOTE]

ah, well in the case of Philip K. Dick, his minor stories still have wonderful ideas in them. I am currently reading THE MAN WHO JAPED and it just has this wonderful Orwellian feeling about it. it has amazing plot lines and supporting characters. but the writing is crappy. it reminds me of the worst of science fiction magazines. really bad science fiction is what spawns really great science fiction.

in that respect, the trash is what inspires and moves people to write something more beautiful.

in the case of Crichton, he's my Stephen King. he's the reason i like reading at all. he writes about what little kids actualy WANT to read about. It's science, some of it's crap and some of it is reliable. it's thought-provoking on a base level, a "gateway drug" to real books.

[QUOTE=Riddlegimp]That's not trash dammitt! [/QUOTE]

it's SO GOOD!

[QUOTE=Vendetta]You guys are going to lose all respect for me if I write down all the crap I read. OH well.

Because of my geeky Anne Rice trash horror sensibilities left over from childhood that I can't seem to shake, I like to read early Anne Rice, especially The Witching Hour, Poppy Z Brite, Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries, Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series and sundry YA vampire and witch novels including LJ Smith and Cate Tiernan's Sweep series.[/QUOTE]
LJ Smith is a literary genious who is just not appreciated by her peers, well except for vampire diaries IV, but you have to let somethings slide.

She's a God. Faultless YA writing. My mum reads it, my sisters, even my boyfriend's read The Secret Circle and they all loved it.

i also like kids books too. although i have a hard time calling these "trash" linday gabve me Noton Juster's "THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH" and i think that he's a fucking genius.

and i also love Edward Gory and his projects, even though the Goth crowd has embraced him. Edward Gory is a master storyteller and artist.

whne I worked at the used booksrote I was incharge of the kids section and while shelving I'd read through all the little sotry books, some of them where pretty good

i wouldn't say it qualifies as trash but they definitely look out of place on my bookshelf. Captain Klutz and the rest of Don Martin's Library I can not get enough of them. Every time, and I mean EVERY time I read through one I wil actually laugh uncortollably out loud, the jokes are so old and I've even read them who knows how many millions of times but its like getting slapped in the face again with a fresh mackerel each time. It's the same reason I love the three stooges.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/karbunkle/karbunkle/captklutzbig.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=snuffy]i also like kids books too. although i have a hard time calling these "trash" linday gabve me Noton Juster's "THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH" and i think that he's a fucking genius.

and i also love Edward Gory and his projects, even though the Goth crowd has embraced him. Edward Gory is a master storyteller and artist.[/QUOTE]
I like Gorey. I have an Edward Gorey Appointment diary and one of those calendars where there's a different page for every day and you have to tear a page off every morning.

[QUOTE=ireLocus]Rolling Stone

Will Tupper's threads

Shel Silverstein[/QUOTE]

Okay......

Rolling Stone: A pop culture Zine that ventures into "politics", while all it really contains is the most liberally biassed hogwash you'll likely ever find. The music news and stories are cool, and the photo essay stuff is usually interesting, but the political stuff is just bilge.

Will Tuppers threads: This should be self explanatory. They're funny and stupid.

Shel Silverstein: I actually don't consider this guy trash lit, cause I think he's great, I just figured someone would've defended him by now...

[QUOTE=ireLocus]
Shel Silverstein: I actually don't consider this guy trash lit, cause I think he's great, I just figured someone would've defended him by now...[/QUOTE]

I actually [I]was[/I] wondering why you put him here. Not that he sucks; I liked his stuff a lot when I was little, but I was wondering why you thought others would consider him trash.

[QUOTE=Undertow]I actually [I]was[/I] wondering why you put him here. Not that he sucks; I liked his stuff a lot when I was little, but I was wondering why you thought others would consider him trash.[/QUOTE]
Just trying to get a little conversation going.

BAM!

CON-VER-SA-TION!

I like Orson Scott Card. Any thing to do with Ender's Game. Some of his newer books are getting a bit too "geeked out" for me but it's good stuff all around. After I read something really heavy I always read something junky just to cleanse my palette. Stephen King gets the job done as well, although sometimes his books are WAY longer than they need to be.

Oh - I thought you were asking me to 'trash' lit that I like -- like say, "Yeah -- that Palahniuk guy -- he's ok, but he's a little long-winded" or "[I]Hamlet[/I] -- what a waste of paper..."

But now I understand...

I have a couple of Carry Fisher books - [I] Postcards from the Edge[/I], [I]Surrender the Pink[/I], and [I]Delusions of Grandma[/I] - actually I think that's all of her books. There's not that much to them, but I enjoyed reading them -- but that may only be because she's Princess Leia....

[QUOTE=wenknee]Oh - I thought you were asking me to 'trash' lit that I like -- like say, "Yeah -- that Palahniuk guy -- he's ok, but he's a little long-winded" or "[I]Hamlet[/I] -- what a waste of paper..."

But now I understand...

[/QUOTE]

Ah, I didn't see that. Good eye! You're hired.

[QUOTE=Undertow]Ah, I didn't see that. Good eye! You're hired.[/QUOTE]
What am I hired for? Do you want me to trash some more lit that I like?

[QUOTE=wenknee]What am I hired for? [/QUOTE]

I don't know, but you're hired.

[QUOTE]Do you want me to trash some more lit that I like?[/QUOTE]

No, because that wasn't my intention with this thread. I'm talking trashY lit, like what I mentioned in my first post of this thread.

[QUOTE=Undertow]I don't know, but you're hired.

No, because that wasn't my intention with this thread. I'm talking trashY lit, like what I mentioned in my first post of this thread.

:)[/QUOTE]
Ok. I'll take the job...but now I gotta go thing of some crap that I've read...I usually try to avoid that stuff, but I'm sure that my sister's given me something that is just totally awful.

[QUOTE=wenknee]Ok. I'll take the job...but now I gotta go thing of some crap that I've read...I usually try to avoid that stuff, but I'm sure that my sister's given me something that is just totally awful.[/QUOTE]

As long as you enjoyed it, that's the thing.

[QUOTE=Undertow]As long as you enjoyed it, that's the thing.[/QUOTE]
If I finished it, I probably enjoyed it...she was on an Oprah's Book Club kick for a while and passed everything on to me.

Oh - Harry Potter books...I tend to start reading them and then I'm unable to put them down...I finished The Prisoner of Azkaban the night before the movie came out -- I totally ignored my children for most of the night and I think that they put themselves to bed because I wanted to read the book before I took them to see the movie.... bad mommy.

i love the novels you get in like, CVS or other drug stores.
the totally cheesy romance novels
theyre all about the same thing with the same people
but they have some awesome descriptive phrases- a lot of them- especially in the sensual scenes- are just that- really sensual- and in trying to sound "pretty" instead of... pornographic, they words they use flow very nicely- almost poetically. the ones set in like old england, especially those, in fact- i have a terrible time with not using the same adjective twice in the same paragraph- ill use black to describe a jacket in one situation, then black to describe the same jacket in a different situation- when instead i could use the word... raven, or pitch, or something like that- the dime store novels give me more to work with
...that and im a hopeless romantic and every time i read one i cry.

[QUOTE=TheJudasCow]i love the novels you get in like, CVS or other drug stores.
the totally cheesy romance novels
theyre all about the same thing with the same people
but they have some awesome descriptive phrases- a lot of them- especially in the sensual scenes- are just that- really sensual- and in trying to sound "pretty" instead of... pornographic, they words they use flow very nicely- almost poetically. the ones set in like old england, especially those, in fact- i have a terrible time with not using the same adjective twice in the same paragraph- ill use black to describe a jacket in one situation, then black to describe the same jacket in a different situation- when instead i could use the word... raven, or pitch, or something like that- the dime store novels give me more to work with
...that and im a hopeless romantic and every time i read one i cry.[/QUOTE]

YES!!!! I knew there was a closet romance novel fan amongst us somewhere!!!!

[QUOTE=Undertow]YES!!!! I knew there was a closet romance novel fan amongst us somewhere!!!![/QUOTE]

oh yes- ive read entire series.
... in fact.. i just finished one up last night.
its an addiction

[QUOTE=TheJudasCow]oh yes- ive read entire series.
... in fact.. i just finished one up last night.
its an addiction[/QUOTE]

Actually your post was just what I was looking for -- it has a type of book that has a notorious reputation and you gave great explanations about what it is about that book, or those books, you find redeeming. Not to say all the other posts so far are shit, because they aren't, but I think that was the best example thus far. Kudos.

A lot of people here seem to hate The Catcher In The Rye, but I like it a lot, does that count? I think it's a great book, and it really captures the character of Holden well.

Also, what's everyone's feelings on The Life of Pi? It seems books that are popular in stores aren't popular here... but I enjoyed it.

[QUOTE=Undertow]Actually your post was just what I was looking for -- it has a type of book that has a notorious reputation and you gave great explanations about what it is about that book, or those books, you find redeeming. Not to say all the other posts so far are shit, because they aren't, but I think that was the best example thus far. Kudos.[/QUOTE]

::pats self on back::
good job, meg

thanks.

I'll admit that I liked The Clan of the Cave bear and the rest of that series. The last one sucked ass, I must admit. And I mean the writing mostly sucked. I liked the fact that it was nothing like real life at all. Good escapism.

And I have a thing for children's fantasy books. Especially the ones by Tamora Pierce. I have a stack of them. Good stuff about knights and magic cats and whatnot. And of course, completely easy to read and pretty much junk.

I'll pretty much read anything I can get my hands on. I read most of this incredibly boring book on firefighters when I got my wisdom teeth out.

[QUOTE=Darren]A lot of people here seem to hate The Catcher In The Rye, but I like it a lot, does that count? I think it's a great book, and it really captures the character of Holden well.

Also, what's everyone's feelings on The Life of Pi? It seems books that are popular in stores aren't popular here... but I enjoyed it.[/QUOTE]
Catcher in the Rye is a great book. Lots of people enjoy it because one time they felt that way, not knowing what you want to do in life and just fucking up. But some people don't like it because they don't like Holden. They don't seem to realize that you don't have to like the main character to enjoy a book.

-K

chriton, (or however the fuck he spells it) (i think his name is jeff hudson anyway. his first book(s) were published under that name) before reading him became more a science lesson than pleasure

dean koontz. sadly yes. he might be a douche who tacks shitty endings onto otherwise middle of the road fictions. but hes good for some time-killing sometimes.

[QUOTE=Darren]
Also, what's everyone's feelings on The Life of Pi? It seems books that are popular in stores aren't popular here... but I enjoyed it.[/QUOTE]
Because Canada doesn't have stores? I thought as much, fucking suburbs, I tell you.

[QUOTE=snuffy]i also like kids books too. although i have a hard time calling these "trash" linday gabve me Noton Juster's "THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH" and i think that he's a fucking genius.

and i also love Edward Gory and his projects, even though the Goth crowd has embraced him. Edward Gory is a master storyteller and artist.[/QUOTE]
i am laughing and laughing. this is some of the worst spelling i have ever ever seen. i love you.

bahahahahahahaha

and neither juster nor gorey are trash. fuck goths, they're lame

[img]http://www.gilmarc.com/leslie/azrael1.jpg[/img]

I'll never forget those warm summer nights a few years back when I read the Vampire Chronicles to the soundtrack of Tom Waits (Frank's Wild Years with a sprinkle of Blue Valentine). It was over the course of two weeks, as I recall.

Great entertainment.

Autobiographies by stellar types like Traci Lords and Janice Dickinson.

Parody threads

Really enjoyed Stephen Donaldson's "The Gap" series. He definately had that Wagnerian, sci-fi, soap-opera trash thing going on.

Just about to start Jack Ketchum's [I]The Girl Next Door[/I], which is supposed to make [I]Let's go Play at The Adam's[/I] read like [I]Pat the Bunny.[/I] But that was before [I]Haunted[/I] was released, so we'll see.

Edited because I just finsihed the first page of Girl Next Door, and as we've discussed in other threads, the first page tells you what you are in for. This seems already worth recommending to the cult at large. Page one:

You think you know about pain?

Talk to my second wife. She does. Or she thinks she does.

She says that once when she was nineteen or twenty she got between a couple of cats fighting—her own cat and a neighbor’s—and one of them went at her, climbed her like a tree, tore gashes out of her thighs and breasts and belly that you still can see today, scared her so badly she fell back against her mother’s turn-of-the-century Hoosier, breaking her best ceramic pie plate and scraping six inches of skin off her ribs while the cat made its way back down her again, all tooth and claw and spitting fury. Thirty-six stitches I think she said she got. And a fever that lasted a few days.

My second wife says that’s pain.

She doesn’t know shit, that woman.

[QUOTE=Luddy Dunn]Just about to start Jack Ketchum's [I]The Girl Next Door[/I], which is supposed to make [I]Let's go Play at The Adam's[/I] read like [I]Pat the Bunny.[/I] But that was before [I]Haunted[/I] was released, so we'll see.[/QUOTE]

Goddammit.

Now I'm going to have to get this book.

Moth to a flame, moth to a flame.

The blurb makes it sound like a story about the people who "look after" the hideous secret shame in that Le Guin short you mentioned a while back.

[QUOTE=Riddlegimp]Goddammit.

Now I'm going to have to get this book.

Moth to a flame, moth to a flame.

The blurb makes it sound like a story about the people who "look after" the hideous secret shame in that Le Guin short you mentioned a while back.[/QUOTE]
What sort of books does Ketchum (sp?) write?

I just finished reading Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell. Does that count? It wasn't great writing, but I liked the book a lot.

[QUOTE=PGoutis01]I just finished reading Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell. Does that count? It wasn't great writing, but I liked the book a lot.[/QUOTE]

I haven't read it, but I don't see why not. As I mentioned when starting the thread, I'm talking about books that are just bad, meaning stuff you could never find a book critic justify as "literature," but you find some good in it.