Ebook: Literary miscellany: everything you always wanted to know about literature

Writers -- What do Horner and Jay-Z have in common? -- How did starving writers pay the bills? -- Is coffee or opium better for creativity? -- Why are the best autobiographies so embarrassing? -- Why couldn't F. Scott Fitzgerald write a decent movie? -- Are short story writers less mature than novelists? -- How to you write the great American (or British or French) novel? -- Readers -- Can big book sales lead to mass suicide? -- Why don't today's writers have as many groupies as Lord Byron? -- Did Robinson Crusoe teach James Frey to lie? -- Who's afraid of Jane Austen? -- When does book burning actually help free speech? -- What did children read before there was children's literature? -- Works -- Who elevated insults to an art form? -- What makes something ode-worthy? -- When did literature finally get sexy? -- Why is Satan the greatest bad guy ever? -- Why did romantics love terror (and not horror)? -- Why do some detectives use their minds and others their fists? -- What other uncontrollable monster did Dr. Frankenstein invent? -- Conclusion: last words.;"Literary Miscellany is a breezy tour through the literature of today and yesterday, touching on many great classical literary works, movements, and trends. But don't fear that it's only for intellectuals - there's plenty here for the contemporary pleasure reader as well. Alex Palmer offers something for everyone, including answers to the following questions: What's the original bestseller? What authors introduced insults as a literary art form? Who burned the first book? Are writers more likely to be depressed than booksellers? How does a book become a movie? When did sex become part of literature?"--Publisher's description.