When Books Go Bad

The literary life isn’t just about curling up with a good book and a cuppa, it’s also a world where Lord Byron calls John Keats’ work ‘piss-a-bed poetry’, spaniels eat the first drafts of masterpieces and gung-ho Ben Jonson shows he’s more than happy to prove the sword is mightier than the pen. ‘When Books Go Bad’ shows that behind the jaunty covers and feelgood memoirs is a dingier world of personal insults, physical blows and publishing errors. It explores the scandalous and salacious side of literary history, tapping into the perennial interest in literary celebrity.