Bad Reviews & Literary Embarrassments

On this date in 1878 Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois.  His biography of Abraham Lincoln was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1939, but this did not stop Edmund Wilson from writing "the cruelest thing that has happened to Lincoln since he was shot by Booth has been to fall into the hands of Carl Sandburg."

Roughly 110 years ago, Henry James's play "Guy Domville" opened in London.  When James responded to cries of "Author! Author!" he stepped on stage, expecting thunderous bravos and perhaps a standing ovation.  Instead,  he was driven from the stage by a barrage of booing and hissing.  

Final embarrassment:  On January 5, 1825, Alexandre Dumas, pere, gallantly stepped forward to fight a duel.  It ended when his pants fell down.

All of which proves that writers should stay home and write.