Error refers to the inherent imperfection of literature, stemming from its striving for a total, perfect, or ideal form that can never be fully realized. This concept is rooted in Mallarmé's idea of the “Book,” which signifies an unattainable, perfect poem that would encompass all other poems and redeem the world.

“In effect, we know that this perf

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The Keatsian endeavor has never been popular, but is particularly unfashionable today. Religious fundamentalists reject it on the grounds that revelation and commitment are needed to orient oneself in the world. The amorality of a poet who is a “thoroughfare for all thoughts” risks heresy or destabilization. Tell me where you stand, where your loya... See more

The number of persons who dislike the work don’t count—there is no such thing as the opposite of buying your book, or the equivalent of losing points in a soccer game, and this absence of negative domain for book sales provides the author with a measure of optionality.