When Books Go Bad

The literary lifeisn't just about curling up with a good book and a cuppa, it's also a worldwhere Lord Byron calls John Keats' work "p**s-a-bed poetry", spanielseat the first drafts of masterpieces and gung-ho Ben Jonson shows he's more than happy to prove the swordis mightier than the pen. The Book of LiteraryScandalsshows that behind the jaunty covers and feelgood memoirs is a dingier worldof personal insults, physical blows, and publishing errors. It's one wherebooks suffer bad endings and libraries impose bizarre sanctions. It's a storyof writers behaving badly since Sophocles clashed quills with Euripedes,defacing books, abandoning spouses, and regretting choosing Dylan Thomas tobe the Best Man at their wedding. Elsewhere it looksat hot take reviews, sniffy dedications, publishers' rejection letters,literary friendships gone sour and why you should never lick a bookwith a green cover.