Literary Rogues

"This scandalous retelling is an entertaining yet bittersweet memorial to romantic self-destruction." -- NY1

"In this rollicking romp through a gallery of writers whose genius came with a price (alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, and other troubles), Shaffer offers a terrific blend of literary history, biography, and witty commentary." -- Publishers Weekly

"Entertaining and well-researched." -- Kirkus Reviews

"'Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love' extends the schadenfreude to the boudoir." -- New York Times Book Review

"If you're in dutch with your valentine, give him Andrew Shaffer's book, which recounts the tortured love lives of 37 thinkers. Compared to them, you'll look as saintly as St. Thomas himself--who, Shaffer tells us, once chased a prostitute out of his room with a hot poker." -- Martha Stewart Whole Living

"Indispensable advice for all lovers--and especially for those who think they should learn about the art of love from philosophers. A wonderful summary of the musings on love by some of history's greatest and most idiosyncratic minds." -- Clancy Martin, editor of Love, Lies, and Marriage

"Remarkable. . . . Literary Rogues is far from a how-to, but it is strangely reassuring." -- NPR.org

"Brilliantly chronicles both the excesses and triumphs of some of the most talented and notorious of them all. . . . A relevant examination of the creative personality." -- New York Journal of Books