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About this quote

What does it mean?
The writing was so ineffective or flawed that it became impressive or memorable in its own way.
In plain terms
Bad writing can sometimes be good because of how bad it is.
What can you take from it?
Flaws can sometimes make something stand out.

Where it applies

  • literary critique
  • artistic review
  • humorous observation

Putting it to work

  • analyze flawed texts
  • appreciate unintentional art
  • study irony

Questions to consider

  • Can something be good because it is bad?
  • What makes writing memorable?

Another view

This view might excuse poor craftsmanship instead of encouraging improvement.

More from William Saroyan

  1. There is much for a young writer to learn from our poorest writers. It is very destructive to burn bad books, almost more destructive than to burn good ones.

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  2. It seemed to me that I had no right to burn a book I hadn't even read.

    Permalink to quote #36

  3. What I intended to do was to burn a half dozen of my books and keep warm, so that I could write my story, but when I looked around for titles to burn, I couldn…

    Permalink to quote #33

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