"I believe he says, that all writers who fail to gain in facility in writing in spite of systematic practice can be classified under three heads: The Empty Vessels: The Mental Cases; The Cheerful Amateur".
And Wharton did cling to her unhappy endings; she refused to let the sad ending of "The House of Mirth" be changed for the play version, and, she later wrote, "in spite of Fay Davis's exquisite representation of Lily Bart I knew that (owing to my refusal to let the heroine survive) it was foredoomed to failure".
A brilliant writer whose "genius for prose" Gore Vidal once described as "one of the few satisfying achievements of our second-rate culture," McCullers was also a cripple before she turned 40, struggling to continue writing in spite of her ailments and publishing four novels before her death in 1967 at the age of 50.
Mário Maestri, a history professor at the University of Passo Fundo and one of the few Brazilian critics who does not reflexively dismiss Coelho, has written, "In spite of belonging to different genres, Coelho's narratives and self-help books have the same fundamental effect: of anesthetizing the alienated consciousness through the consoling reaffirmation of conventions and prevailing prejudices.
My fellow pilgrims and I leave the Anne Frank House trying to comprehend the contrast between the unimaginable horrors of Anne's final months and her powerful, unshaken faith in humanity when she wrote, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart".
In a separate review for the song, Levine rated it three out of five stars, and wrote "in spite of its predictability, 'I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time' still makes for a satisfying listen, sounding classy, effortless and as summery as a glass of rosé in the garden after a work".
The collected Acts I, II & III release received 4.5 out of 5 stars from Allmusic's Steve Huey, who wrote "in spite of its flaws, Joe's Garage has enough substance to make it one of Zappa's most important '70s works and overall political statements, even if it's not focused enough to rank with his earliest Mothers of Invention masterpieces".
It was written in spite of problems that Mitford was having with her eyesight; at one stage she had to go and see the ophthalmic surgeon Patrick Trevor-Roper and was provided with spectacles which helped her work (she had been suffering from headaches that meant that working for more than a couple of hours per day had become very difficult at that stage).
As for the lost Anticato, a reply to Cicero's eulogy of Caesar's dead opponent Marcus Porcius Cato, it is a testimony to Caesar's political insight that he made the time to write it, in spite of the overwhelming military, administrative, and legislative demands on him.
Prescott first used a noctograph while staying with Adams; the tool became a permanent feature of his life, allowing him to write independently in spite of his impaired eyesight.
