Of course, literary feuds are nothing new.
LITERARY FIGHT NIGHT
GERTRUDE STEIN v. ERNEST "PAPA" HEMINGWAY
This was a case of a mentor/student relationship gone bad. Stein originally had nothing but great things to say about Hemingway, that is until he became a bigger literary star. Stein then wrote a scathing review about one of Hemingway's book. Papa responded by talking about Stein's sex life with Alice B. Toklas in his memoir, A Moveable Feast.
The on-going feud between these two egotistical novelists came to a head at a dinner party in New York when Mailer challenged Vidal to a fight and threw a drink in his face. Apparently, the two also came to blows (including slapping and headbutts) backstage of The Dick Cavett Show, before going on the air and engaging in what was called a memorable war of words.
When Wolfe's novel A Man in Full was published in 1998, the three "literary giants" all agreed that the book was horrible. Wolfe fired back at the trio in a Canadian TV show by calling them The Three Stooges and said that they were jealous of him. "It must gall them a bit that everyone, including them, is talking about me."
There you have it just three of the famous literary feuds. To read more, check out Anthony Arthur's book Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels from Mark Twain to Tom Wolfe. And for the record, notice there weren't too many (if any at all) feuds among the crime writing community. :-]
GERTRUDE STEIN v. ERNEST "PAPA" HEMINGWAY
This was a case of a mentor/student relationship gone bad. Stein originally had nothing but great things to say about Hemingway, that is until he became a bigger literary star. Stein then wrote a scathing review about one of Hemingway's book. Papa responded by talking about Stein's sex life with Alice B. Toklas in his memoir, A Moveable Feast.
GORE VIDAL v. NORMAN MAILER
The on-going feud between these two egotistical novelists came to a head at a dinner party in New York when Mailer challenged Vidal to a fight and threw a drink in his face. Apparently, the two also came to blows (including slapping and headbutts) backstage of The Dick Cavett Show, before going on the air and engaging in what was called a memorable war of words.
MAIN EVENT
TOM WOLFE v. NORMAN MAILER, JOHN IRVING AND JOHN UPDIKE
TOM WOLFE v. NORMAN MAILER, JOHN IRVING AND JOHN UPDIKE
When Wolfe's novel A Man in Full was published in 1998, the three "literary giants" all agreed that the book was horrible. Wolfe fired back at the trio in a Canadian TV show by calling them The Three Stooges and said that they were jealous of him. "It must gall them a bit that everyone, including them, is talking about me."
There you have it just three of the famous literary feuds. To read more, check out Anthony Arthur's book Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels from Mark Twain to Tom Wolfe. And for the record, notice there weren't too many (if any at all) feuds among the crime writing community. :-]
4 comments:
I always liked the quips and quotes between those writers who carried on feuds.
Gore Vidal once said, "Truman Capote's death was a good career move."
And Thomas Carlyle once referred to Algernon Charles Swinburne as, "sitting in a sewer, and adding to it."
My favorite, though, was when someone asked Capote about Jack Kerouac's writing style. Capote replied, "That's not writing, it's typing."
Thanks for the additional info, Jake.
Quips and quotes are always fun, but what about the whole head butting and slapping? Can't you just see it? Ultimate Fighting for authors ;)
RJ,
I've trained enough in muay thai to hold my own in that one. Then again, I guess I gotta get somethin' on the shelves before I can go picking fights.
Or do I?
Hmmm....
:D
Let me put it this way, Jake. To pick a fight in general, go right ahead. To pick one with a literary type person, well that's different. But if they just plain out annoy you....
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