The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing styleJohn Humphrys is the first to admit he doesn’t deal well with authority. He inherited it from his father, who refused to use the service entrance at the grand houses where he worked as a French polisher and, as a child, once watched his aunt get a humiliating dressing-down from the vicar for missing church. Humphrys had his own brush with condescending authority figures when he was in hospital with a cyst on his spine at 13, and an “arrogant posh bastard consultant” told his retinue of trainees it was because he didn’t wash regularly. “I don’t like being defined or told what to do, whoever is in charge,” he notes, a stance that has proved useful for grilling politicians (he has interviewed eight prime ministers), though it has also landed him in hot water.His memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career and analysis of the evolution of broadcasting with diatribes and petty score-settling. The early chapters tell of his passage from teen lackey on the Penarth Times in Wales, where his main task was standing outside the local church taking the names of those attending weddings and funerals, to being the first journalist on the scene at the Aberfan disaster, near Merthyr Tydfil, in which 116 children and 28 adults died after a colliery tip collapsed. Later he became a BBC foreign correspondent, reporting on the 1971 war... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-10 06:30:10 UTC ]
Activist, Spy, and Icon Josephine Baker's memoir, a bookish memoir about mental illness and identity by a literature professor, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-21 13:30:00 UTC ]
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This week's featured books include the follow up to IRON FLAME, new horror by 2024 Nobel Prize winner Han Kang, and a memoir by the most dangerous woman in Africa. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-21 13:00:00 UTC ]
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What roles do place and memory play in the construction of a narrative? In this conversation, memoirist Shze-Hui Tjoa and novelist Farah Ali talk about how these forces affect the storytelling in their respective books: The Story Game (Tin House, 2024), an interrogation of memory, childhood, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-13 09:56:58 UTC ]
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A Memoir About Having Undocumented Parents, One Woman Against the Hordes of Hell, a Chillingly Beautiful Mystery, and More of Today's Best Book Deals Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-11 12:30:00 UTC ]
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Gloria L. Huang on understanding herself and her family through The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins. | Lit Hub Memoir “Miles tells him he’s the man on the marquee, but the cop assaults him with his stick nonetheless.” Irvin Weathersby Jr. examines the effortless racism of America’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-08 11:30:31 UTC ]
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Jewish Life in Harbin, China: A Conversation with Jean Hoffmann Lewanda by Susan Blumberg-Kason Interviews [email protected] Tue, 01/07/2025 - 07:08 Shalama and Paul, Shanghai, 1950. Photo courtesy of Jean Hoffmann LewandaI met the author Jean... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2025-01-07 13:08:24 UTC ]
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Reagan Arthur picks up a memoir of solo travel, a pair of French sister-authors sell the story of their famous grandmother to Europa Editions, and more in this week’s book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-01-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The year’s best books include the novel “James” by Percival Everett and a memoir by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2024-12-18 16:59:22 UTC ]
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Dr. Guy Leschziner explores the science behind the more unsavory aspects of our personalities. | Lit Hub Science Sara B. Franklin on reading children’s lit in troubled times | Lit Hub Memoir What do we really need from our literary heroes? | Lit Hub Memoir “Every food tells a story, and like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-12-11 11:30:59 UTC ]
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Many celebrities’ books are actually written by others, the UK writers’ union says, and it’s time they were acknowledgedThe Society of Authors (SoA) is calling on celebrities and the publishing industry to properly acknowledge the writers behind celebrity books, particularly those aimed at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-12-10 16:42:22 UTC ]
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Gypsy-Rose Blanchard spent years in prison for helping to kill her mother. Now she's about to become a parent herself — and is out with a memoir about her childhood Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-12-10 11:00:49 UTC ]
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Here are this week's bestsellers from the five biggest lists, including part one of Cher's memoir and THE SERVICEBERRY by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-12-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor, seems to inch closer and closer to running for mayor.He clearly hoped Mayor Eric Adams, indicted on corruption charges in September, would resign, triggering a special election. Cuomo, for now, seems less enthusiastic about taking on Adams directly.... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-12-03 18:43:26 UTC ]
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December's new mysteries and thrillers include a Japanese murder mystery, a true crime memoir of a woman raised by a serial killer, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-12-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Cher discovered that mom Georgia Holt had inadvertently put 'Cheryl' on the birth certificate. Luckily, her memoir gets much juicier. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-11-26 01:23:22 UTC ]
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One thing is clear from the get-go: Werner Herzog, the enigmatic German icon of all things Art, likes for things to be precise. He makes sure I know this within the first minutes of our meeting. He is in Paris for48 hours for the release of the French translation of his memoir Every Man for […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-25 09:57:37 UTC ]
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Cher’s memoir is a valuable document of a young girl thrust into the adult world. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2024-11-22 17:45:00 UTC ]
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Her own is called “Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me,” which follows anthologies that grew out of founding the Well-Read Black Girl book club. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-11-21 10:00:06 UTC ]
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