Stories are sadly second-rate, without a hint of realism (9)
I believe the answer is:
anecdotes
'stories' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sadly second-rate without a hint of realism' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'second' could be 's' (common abbreviation) and 's' is located in the answer.
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'are' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anecdotes that I've seen before include "Short accounts of incidents" , "Noted case (anag.)" , "Amusing short stories" , "Amusing short tales" , "yarns" .)