The Mammoth Book of Literary Anecdotes

by Philip Gooden

"Who would write who had anything better to do?" queried Lord Byron rhetorically, and in this anthology, Philip Gooden finds hundreds of illuminating anecdotes about writers in support of this pithy remark. The stories tell us about the things writers got up to when not at their typewriters, from how Elizabethan playwright Ben Johnson escaped the gallows after having killed a man, to the first meeting between Anais Nin and Henry Miller.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Reference

509 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2002

About the author

Philip Gooden lives in Bath. In addition to his Nick Revill series, Sleep of Death, he is the author of The Guinness Guide to Better English and the editor of The Mammoth Book of Literary Anecdotes. Each of his Nick Revill mysteries revolves around a Shakespearean play mirroring life - in Sleep of Death the play was Hamlet, in this offering it is Troilus and Cressida.
AKA Philippa Morgan.

Series:
* Shakespearean Murder
* Tom Ansell

Reviews

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't really serve the purpose for what it was written. Instead of being interesting and a source of humorous infotainment, this book was merely copied paragraphs from biographies and autobiographies with information that no one could care less. If I were to end ma review here, I would blame myself of being biased. So, yes, I concede I did like some very few entries that I found interesting and worth reading. But other than that, this book gave me the pleasure of nothing but wasting ma time during exams.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF
I couldn’t stay awake while reading but from what I read/skimmed it seemed good. Maybe I’ll try again later

[D.B. Pacini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had great fun with this wonderful book. It contains a wealth of recollections, essays, and quotes spanning five centuries. Read this book if you are curious to learn something you perhaps don't already know about some of our favorite literary giants!