Article: The two geniuses who went to war - over a coach fare; Rousseau's Dog by David Edmonds and John Eidinow Faber [pounds sterling]15.99 BOOK OF THE WEEK.(Book review)

Byline: CRAIG BROWN

There is nothing the literary world likes more than a babyish spat between two grand authors.

Aside from the obvious entertainment, it reassures lesser minds to know it only takes a poke in the right place for all that great wisdom and learning to be sent flying.

In our own day, the letters page of The Times Literary Supplement is the weekly forum for protracted hissy-fits between grandees. Phrased with meticulous care and sophistication, these correspondences usually boil down to this simple sequence: 'You fibbed!' 'I never!' 'You did!' 'Didn't!' 'Did!'

'Didn't' 'Did!' and so on, ad infinitum.

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