Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
When Books Go Bad: Tales of Literary Feuds, Publishing Errors and Withering Reviews

When Books Go Bad: Tales of Literary Feuds, Publishing Errors and Withering Reviews

Johnson, Alex

Hardcover

Literary FiguresLetters & EssaysLiterary Criticism

Publisher Price: $24.99

ISBN10: 0712355839
ISBN13: 9780712355834
Publisher: British Library
Published: Oct 27 2026
Pages: 176
Weight: 1.49
Height: 0.81 Width: 5.21 Depth: 7.91
Language: English
The literary life isn't just about curling up with a good book and a cuppa, it's also a world where Lord Byron calls John Keats' work piss-a-bed poetry, spaniels eat the first drafts of masterpieces and gung-ho Ben Jonson shows he's more than happy to prove the sword is mightier than the pen. When Books Go Bad: The Book of Literary Scandals shows that behind the jaunty covers and feelgood memoirs is a dingier world of personal insults, physical blows, and publishing errors. It's one where books suffer bad endings and libraries impose bizarre sanctions. It's a story of writers behaving badly since Sophocles clashed quills with Euripedes, defacing books, abandoning spouses, and regretting choosing Dylan Thomas to be the Best Man at their wedding. Elsewhere it looks at hot take reviews, sniffy dedications, publishers' rejection letters, literary friendships gone sour and why you should never lick a book with a green cover. The book weaves original documents, rare books and historical anecdotes into an entertaining alternative history of the literary canon.

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Johnson, Alex

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Literary Figures

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