TOP TEN criticisms to let you know you may have written a book for the ages – Gospel Prism

TOP TEN criticisms to let you know you may have written a book for the ages, (actual critical notices for Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, the basis for Chapter 6 of Gospel Prism.)

10) Only one library, and that in Philadelphia, orders the book.

9) You are immediately fired from your job.

8) A famous writer is seen to throw your book into the fire. (Whittier)

7) A famous religious leaders says you should have thrown it into the fire. (Higginson)

6) Unauthorized versions are printed and sold. (1879)

5) The top literary critic of the time calls your book “a mass of stupid filth.” (Griswold)

4) Various prosecutors and organizations declare your book is obscene.

3) This controversy sells more books.

2) But various retailers refuse to sell your book.

1) Ralph Waldo Emerson writes to you about you book and says, “I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed.”