Then, with much trepidation, I started very carefully pulling away the fabric at a spot where it was falling down already:
AND, due to some amazing balance in the universe, the fabric peeled away in seconds leaving the plaster undamaged underneath. When I stripped the wallpaper in the kitchen, it took most of the finish coat of plaster with it and I had to scrape it with gallons of hot water and it took days. Today it practically fell off the walls. I thought I had it made, I was going to pull down all of this paper while Chris laid on the couch in the den nursing his hangover and when he came downstairs finally the room would be finished and I would be a hero and I could totally milk it for at least the rest of the day and he would be forced to go out and pick up takeout for dinner.
Unfortunately he emerged too soon and saw that the fabric was coming down very easily and that I was actually having a good time, so I was not off the hook at all and had to clean the kitchen and then make dinner while he did man-jobs outside.
Here's how the room looks now:
There's still a large amount of glue on the walls, but the condition of the plaster isn't as bad as I expected. Some areas will need fairly simple repairs, but most of it just needs to be skimcoated. First I have to figure out if I need to do anything about that pesky glue...
