Short Reviews: “Smile, Smile, Smile” “I Didn’t, I Didn’t, I Didn’t”

Clive Barnes? Richard Bentley? Charles Hayward? John Francis Hope? A. Walkely? Wolcott Gibbs? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: One-line theatrical reviews are simultaneously hilarious and unfairly dismissive. A grumpy critic who saw the Broadway show “Smile, Smile, Smile” responded with “I Didn’t, I Didn’t, I Didn’t”. Another disgruntled critic saw “A Terrible Night” and declared “Quite …

Don’t Like to Write, But Like Having Written

Dorothy Parker? George R. R. Martin? Frank Norris? Robert Louis Stevenson? Cornelia Otis Skinner? Clive Barnes? Jack Klugman? Gloria Steinem? Hedley Donovan? Dear Quote Investigator: Writing is an arduous task for many skilled authors. There is a popular family of sayings that contrasts the elation of accomplishment with the struggle of composition: 1) I hate …