We know it’s hard to believe, but there have been moments when we embarrassed ourselves to the point where, had the ground opened up and garbage disposaled us whole, we would have been ecstatic. As it turns out, many authors have moments like this. And, as to be expected, remember every excruciating detail (would that we remembered our wedding as well as our many humiliations). We enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s brave recounting of some her favorite bad times in the MediaBistro excerpt from Mortification, edited by Robin Robertson.