He is the originator of the now-infamous line "It was a dark and stormy
night", often used by Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip "Peanuts",
as a classic example of bad writing. It is from the novel "Paul Clifford".
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, named in his honor, celebrates
deliberately bad writing. Entries are encouraged to be as terrible as
possible.
He was one of Charles Dickens' closest friends and favorite authors. It
was Bulwer-Lytton who persuaded Dickens to change the ending of "Great
Expectations" from a downbeat ending to a happy one.
Was made a peer in 1866.
Father of 1st Earl of Lytton Robert Bulwer-Lytton, and grandfather of 2nd Earl of Lytton Victor Bulwer-Lytton.