10. Oscar Wilde
In 1894,the Marquis of Queensberry delivered his calling card to a porter at the Albemarle Club, a members-only bohemian writers’ haunt in London; it read: “To Oscar Wilde, posing as a somdomite [sic].” Incensed, Wilde approached a solicitor in order to press libel charges against the Marquis. When the case made it to court, Wilde realized he was the one on trial, and during his cross-examination he was repeatedly asked about the licentious subject matter in his novels. The author gamely replied, “There is no such thing as an immoral work; books are well-written, or badly written.”
Wilde never thought he would be tried at Old Bailey, but the verdict was decidedly “guilty,” and he served two years in prison.
Comments (11)
How about Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
Oscar Wilde got prosecuted for being gay by a man named the Marquis of Queensberry? That takes some gall!
This is an oldie, but what about Francois Villon, the medieval poet hanged as a thief (ou sont les neiges d’antan, and all that)
Torsloke — Marquis of Queensberry pissed because OW having a consensual affair with his son. He insulted OW, who fell for the bait and sued. OW never impersonated Queensberry, Queensberry impersonated him. Q was a real alpha male, invented the Queensberry rules of pugilism. OW messed with the wrong dude.
What about the Marquis de Sade ?
How could you possibly omit Jean Genet?
[...] Lês fierder by Flavorwire [...]
[...] about an evening with J.D. Salinger. If you’re looking for writers behaving badly, don’t miss Flavorwire’s gallery of author mug shots to read about the crimes of Ezra Pound, Dalton Trumbo, William Burroughs, and [...]
and while never officially caught, the literary hoaxist john joseph joynt deserves a mention here for all his hard work that can’t be traced to his blame
Ken Kesey? Does Aaron Sorkin count? And wasn’t there a dust-up about Christopher Marlowe stabbing someone in a pub and having to flee England? This is fun!
Peter Zenger, who owned “the other” printing press, not the one that printed the offcial notices, etc., was imprisoned (and some allege torture) for a publishing a view on an election held in today’s Westchester, NY on the village green. It is partly extant in front of St. Pauls Church National Historic Site. A small monument to him is also on Governors Island, where he arrived and lived at the age of ten from the German Palatine. It has a small “swivel gun” molded on its top, and another monument is next to it, I can’t recall to what.
[...] An interesting array of crooks found here. [...]
Post a new comment