This significant literary figure, trained as a physician, had an affair with the wife of a famous novelist who himself enjoyed a longtime mistress. A second writer's disagreement with him on a point of critical theory resulted in that writer's production of one of the world's most famous works of prose, one that, ironically, rather undermined its author's position. Who was the literary figure, who was the "cuckolded" novelist, and what is the famous work?

lanfranco

O.K. since I've given this clue to peasy, I must be fair and give it to everyone else: Focus on the "famous work of prose," which tends to cause people to feel nostalgic .... Sep 07 06, 8:20 PM

peasypod

Peasy just got home from dealing with industry reps, need something to calm me down, but I do see I have a PM from you.... Sep 07 06, 8:53 PM

peasypod

Well, without searching I definately am wondering about Robert Burns' Auld Lang Syne, that does tend to make one nostalgic----then again, so too does an empty bottle of tequila. Sep 07 06, 9:06 PM

lanfranco

Forget tequila (though I do agree on that). Think teatime. Sep 07 06, 9:41 PM

peasypod

Teatime for an Aussie gal is dinner. However, are you thinking of afternoon tea? Sep 07 06, 9:48 PM

lanfranco

More or less. Sep 08 06, 7:20 AM

lanfranco

Feeling really miserable about this one? Well, that's a clue. Sep 13 06, 10:07 PM

22crows

Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869) had a liaison with Adele (wife of Victor Hugo). Victor Hugo (1802-1885) had a long standing mistress in Juliette Drouet. Marcel Proust (1871-1922) wrote a collection of essays published as Contre Sainte-Beuve. His famous work was A la recherche du temps perdu. Dec 08 06, 10:05 PM

lanfranco

Very nice, 22, that is the correct answer. A reference site would have been helpful, but after all this time, I won't quibble too much. A somewhat dusty silver mace goes to you. As the site below points out, Sainte-Beuve's contention that the literary critic must understand an author's biography to understand his work called forth a protest from Proust, whose most famous work is, of course, an evocation of his own life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Saint-Beuve Dec 10 06, 3:39 PM

22crows

I didn't really have one reference site. Working from your "miserable" clue, I gathered that Victor Hugo was in the mix somewhere, so I eventually found the clues to the answers from that starting point, using books and the French Wikipedia. Dec 11 06, 5:01 AM

Create a Free FunTrivia ID to add to, request more/new answers, or edit this entry

What son of a famous writer - who would later become a minor literary figure himself - nearly machine-gunned himself to death in 1958 while with the British military in Cyprus? This literary figure spent much of his life as an insurance executive and produced his most significant works after the age of 50. Today, many critics regard him as the most important American representative of his genre of the 20th century. Who was he? This famous band with a literary name had a hit inspired by a famous satire of a Shropshire novelist. They also had a hit inspired by an iconic 1960s British movie. Their biggest hit was about a company based in the English Midlands and they have written a theme to a forward looking TV show. Who is the band and what are the songs involved? Who is the Russian literary figure that some people believe to be almost as unfortunate as the Baudelaire orphans?

1 The Ten Most Famous Literary Characters Obviously, this is highly subjective .... but here's my list of the ten most most famous literary characters. Literary Characters Average 10 Q robert362 Apr 20 02 4161 plays 2 Famous Polish Writers This quiz deals with the most outstanding Polish novelists, playwrights and poets, many of whom gained a huge recognition and an everlasting place in the world's literature. All questions are multiple choice. Writers & Authors Tough 10 Q beatka Mar 19 03 474 plays 3 Famous Writers in Popular Music Listening to my i-pod recently, I noticed a famous writer's name pop up in a song by Blur. Which got me wondering about how many other writers are mentioned in songs? A scan of my i-pod revealed the following. Enjoy! Literature in Songs Difficult 10 Q thelovelylulu Feb 08 07 717 plays