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Review
A splendid book… just see how these writers fail to love each other. (Sunday Telegraph )
There's something refreshing in hearing Don Quixote described as 'insufferably dull', even if you're inclined to disagree. (Independent on Sunday )
It can be a rather ugly spectacle - literary pugilism from men you suspect wouldn't have been much cop in a real fight - but it is always compelling. (Sunday Tribune )
Should appeal to bibliophiles, especially those with a cynical sense of humour. (athomewithbooks.blogspot.com )
Whenever I see that a book has been written by one of my friends has got a really good review -- a pang goes through me. I didn't say that, Gore Vidal did. But he speaks for many writers, and for the sin of envy. If you want to see envy and anger and pride (three of the deadliest) getting hilariously into their stride, read 'Poisoned Pens'. I found myself rooting and spluttering as the rant went on. Guess what I did when Harold Bloom told the Wall Street Journal what a rotton writer JK Rowling really is? (Glasgow Herald )
There's something refreshing in hearing Don Quixote described as 'insufferably dull', even if you're inclined to disagree. (Independent on Sunday )
It can be a rather ugly spectacle - literary pugilism from men you suspect wouldn't have been much cop in a real fight - but it is always compelling. (Sunday Tribune )
Should appeal to bibliophiles, especially those with a cynical sense of humour. (athomewithbooks.blogspot.com )
Whenever I see that a book has been written by one of my friends has got a really good review -- a pang goes through me. I didn't say that, Gore Vidal did. But he speaks for many writers, and for the sin of envy. If you want to see envy and anger and pride (three of the deadliest) getting hilariously into their stride, read 'Poisoned Pens'. I found myself rooting and spluttering as the rant went on. Guess what I did when Harold Bloom told the Wall Street Journal what a rotton writer JK Rowling really is? (Glasgow Herald )
Product Description
'With the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I can despise so entirely as I despise Shakespeare.' George Bernard Shaw
From what Byron really thought of Keats to Salman Rushdie's savage put-down of John Le Carre, from Cocteau's damning view of Victor Hugo to Edith Sitwell's derogatory description of D.H. Lawrence, here, complied by the author of Why Not Catch 21? is an anthology of writers on writers, eloquently giving vent to their least charitable feelings in outbursts of petulance, denunciations, abuse, mockery, and more.
What the reviewers said about Why Not Catch 21?.
'A deliciously witty and erudite collection which, as with a box of chocolate liqueurs, I had to discipline myself not to consume too quickly. Few writers have ever worn their learning as lightly as Gary Dexter.' Gilbert Adair
'Fifty delicious little essays about, in some cases, very familiar books, which tell you things you didn't know before and occasionally draw odd and unexpected conclusions. If no one buys this delightful book for you, buy it for yourself. No literary lavatory will be complete without a copy.' Spectator
From what Byron really thought of Keats to Salman Rushdie's savage put-down of John Le Carre, from Cocteau's damning view of Victor Hugo to Edith Sitwell's derogatory description of D.H. Lawrence, here, complied by the author of Why Not Catch 21? is an anthology of writers on writers, eloquently giving vent to their least charitable feelings in outbursts of petulance, denunciations, abuse, mockery, and more.
What the reviewers said about Why Not Catch 21?.
'A deliciously witty and erudite collection which, as with a box of chocolate liqueurs, I had to discipline myself not to consume too quickly. Few writers have ever worn their learning as lightly as Gary Dexter.' Gilbert Adair
'Fifty delicious little essays about, in some cases, very familiar books, which tell you things you didn't know before and occasionally draw odd and unexpected conclusions. If no one buys this delightful book for you, buy it for yourself. No literary lavatory will be complete without a copy.' Spectator
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Most knowledgeable readers pay scant attention to book jacket blurbs. You know, those comments by other authors placed prominently in quotation marks praising a title with such phrases as "a compelling new voice on the literary scene" or "another pulse pounding tale of suspense." It's pretty commonly known that often these complimentary words are traded - you do a blurb for my book and I'll do one for yours. Of course, there's never even the slightest criticism in a blurb, which makes reading Poisoned Pens all the more fun!
Gary Dexter, author of Why Not Catch 21: The Stories Behind The Titles, has gathered a collection of what authors really, really thought of the works of other writers. Thus, there are a number of excoriating comments included, and whether penned in anger, jealousy, jibe or gravitas all are superbly written.
For instance, Virginia Woolf wrote of Jane Austen, "I'd give all she ever wrote for half what the Brontes wrote......." Gore Vidal had nothing kind to say about John Updike, "I can't stand him. Nobody will think to ask because I'm supposedly jealous; but I out-sell him...."
And so it goes from one barb to another beginning with Aristophanes and closing with Michael Crichton. Poisoned Pens is a welcome addition to a library not only for reference but also for smiles.
- Gail Cooke
Gary Dexter, author of Why Not Catch 21: The Stories Behind The Titles, has gathered a collection of what authors really, really thought of the works of other writers. Thus, there are a number of excoriating comments included, and whether penned in anger, jealousy, jibe or gravitas all are superbly written.
For instance, Virginia Woolf wrote of Jane Austen, "I'd give all she ever wrote for half what the Brontes wrote......." Gore Vidal had nothing kind to say about John Updike, "I can't stand him. Nobody will think to ask because I'm supposedly jealous; but I out-sell him...."
And so it goes from one barb to another beginning with Aristophanes and closing with Michael Crichton. Poisoned Pens is a welcome addition to a library not only for reference but also for smiles.
- Gail Cooke
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Gary Dexter's anthology of literary vitriol "Poisoned Pens" was a pleasant surprise. While there are the old standards such as the spats between Capote and Vidal and Amis and Sitwell, there are also some novelties and rarities and the footnotes strike just the right note of informativeness, while many familiar quotes such as Johnson on Shakespeare are given in a fuller form than is usual. Some easy targets are struck too often, such as Wordsworth and Scott, and there are the expected quotes from "English Bards and Scots Reviewers"; while others such as Kafka and Blake seem to have got off without a scratch - did nobody ever criticise the latter's tedious apocalyptic prose. I have yet to find someone who has actually read "The Four Zoas" (well one person, David Whitmarsh-Knight who wrote his PhD thesis on it) which stands in such contrast to his lyrics. Dexter's scope is essentially English texts, and adult fiction at that so no Tolkien or Dodgson though Parker's review of "The House at Pooh Corner" does make it, as does Harold Bloom's rather redundant assessment of J K Rowling.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book was in condition, came on time and is worth reading, not straight through but dipping into at liesure.
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