Famous Authors Insulting Other Authors

Writers Write creates writing resources and shares writing tips. In this infographic, we share a selection of famous authors insulting other authors.

Being insulted as an author by one of your peers must be disconcerting. Writers are experts at making words count. However, there aren’t that many modern authors who cause waves.

There are a few, like these:

There is Martin Amis who claimed he would need brain damage to write children’s books.
Harold Bloom said, “How to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Why, very quickly, to begin with, and perhaps also to make an end. Why read it? Presumably, if you cannot be persuaded to read anything better, Rowling will have to do.”
Bret Easton Ellis said, “Saint David Foster Wallace: a generation trying to read him feels smart about themselves which is part of the whole bullshit package.”
Stephen King referred to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight as “tweenager porn”.
Peter James based a character named Amis Smallbone, a villain with a tiny penis, in Not Dead Yet, on Martin Amis after an unpleasant altercation with that author.

But, most of the best insults are from authors who are long dead. We hope you enjoy this selection.