The Death of the Lion

In the almost-novella-length short story The Death of the Lion, literary giant Henry James pokes sardonic fun at the vagaries of literary fame. The author at the center of the tale, one Neil Paraday, is gushingly praised by the newspapers and journals—but very few of his admirers seem to have actually read his work. It's a thought-provoking look at the celebrity culture of the turn of the twentieth century.