‘A smorgasbord of unlikability’: the authors helping ‘sad girl lit’ grow up

In this post-Fleabag world, publishing has become obsessed with the inner turmoils of messy millennials – but isn’t it time they pulled themselves together? Meet the novelists subverting the clichesYou’ve probably come across this woman: she is unfulfilled in her career, has been abandoned by at least one man, she is aimless and lamenting the obstacles in her life (of which, in reality, there don’t appear to be many). She is not just miserable, she’s a mess; self-absorbed and full of self-loathing.If you’ve read a book by a woman, about a woman, that has been published in the last five years, then it’s overwhelmingly likely that this woman was the protagonist. The narrative likely circled around this character’s sadness, her passive struggle to overcome it, and little else. Typically, such stories have notes of darkness but will rarely deliver the actual thing. Usually the main character (like the author) will be middle-class, if not incredibly wealthy. Almost always she will be white. The book’s cover will probably feature a devastated-looking woman with her hair covering her face or her head cradled in her hands. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-08 15:19:43 UTC ]

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Report: Twitter's algorithmic timeline may arrive next week

You’ve heard about it. You’ve read about it. You may have even Tweeted about it. But it looks as if Twitter’s non-chronological “algorithmic” timeline is almost here.According to a BuzzFeed report published Friday, the company plans to unveil its algorithmic timeline “as soon as next week.” An... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2016-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why designers hate on the article progress bar

Publishers looking to give readers more control and information about their articles have discovered the article progress bar. The feature, which lets readers know how much of an article they've read, is a preferred tactic for the likes of Bloomberg and The Daily Beast but divisive among... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CIA torture report to arrive in every US presidential candidate's mailbox

Independent publisher Melville House will send five copies of the US Senate’s report on torture to every White House hopeful – ‘even Donald Trump’Independent publisher Melville House is sending its edition of the CIA torture report to every candidate standing for the American presidency, in a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Battling bias on the shop floor: how bookstores can support diversity

A bookseller explains how Kamila Shamsie’s call for gender equality in the industry, and the fiery debate it provoked, could lead to greater diversity all aroundKamila Shamsie calling for a year of publishing only women has certainly unleashed a storm. Some disagree that gender bias exists,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robert Gates’ Primal Scream

Robert Gates’ Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, is the most peculiar book of its kind that I’ve read in a long time, maybe ever. It’s a fascinating, briskly honest account of one dyspeptic yet steely man’s journey through the cutthroat corridors of Washington and world politics, with shrewd,... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2014-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why 20th Century Fox Blanked Out Two Pages of The New York Times

In the main section of today's print edition of The New York Times, readers will notice a whole lot of nothing on pages 9 and 10. The two virtually blank, back-to-back pages are actually an ad for 20th Century Fox's upcoming film adaptation of Markus Zusak's best-selling novel, "The Book Thief,"... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Survey: Have You Ever Read an Enhanced E-Book?

We asked our readers two years ago if they had read an enhanced ebook. Over half of survey respondents had not. Now, we're asking again. Take our survey and tell us if you've read an enhanced ebook. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'Second Person Singular' by Sayed Kashua

A lawyer and a caretaker with similar backgrounds follow different paths in contemporary Jerusalem with the same motivation: to leave their small-town Arab lives behind and be accepted for the new personas they have created.Early in the novel, "Second Person Singular," a main character known... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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20 Percent of Americans Say They're Reading eBooks

One in five Americans say they've read an ebook in the last year, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. Those numbers come from a late January survey, they're up sharply from a December 2011 survey. Pew says the jump coincides with a jump in... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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