Henry James, Failed Playwright

He was trying to fix an issue with diminishing royalties from his novels, but when Guy Domville was produced in London, chaos ensued: “James made it backstage for the closing minutes. He heard both the sneers from the gallery and the enthusiastic applause from the stalls. When Alexander took his curtain call, Henry’s friends in the audience began shouting ‘Author, author!,’ and the unnerved actor took James by the hand and led him onstage. A civil war ensued.”