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

The literary life is not just about curling up with a good book and a cup of tea. It is also a world where Lord Byron dismisses John Keats’s poetry as “piss-a-bed,” spaniels devour the first drafts of masterpieces, and the combative Ben Jonson proves he is quite prepared to show that the sword can be mightier than the pen.

When Books Go Bad: The Book of Literary Scandals lifts the lid on the darker side of the literary world. Beneath jaunty covers and uplifting memoirs lies a history of personal feuds, sharp insults, physical altercations, publishing blunders, and books that met unfortunate ends. Libraries impose bizarre penalties, writers clash spectacularly, and friendships disintegrate in public view.

From Sophocles and Euripides trading barbs in ancient Greece to authors defacing books, abandoning spouses, or regretting asking Dylan Thomas to be best man at their wedding, this is a tale of writers behaving badly across the centuries. Along the way, it explores scathing reviews, sniffy dedications, brutal rejection letters, literary alliances gone sour, and the curious warning never to lick a book with a green cover.

Drawing on original documents, rare volumes, and vivid historical anecdotes, the book offers an entertaining and irreverent alternative history of the literary canon.