Airhead by Emily Maitlis review – up close with Trump and the Dalai Lama

The chief presenter of BBC Newsnight vividly chronicles the pains and perils of news televisionEmily Maitlis’s book isn’t an autobiography. By the end we are none the wiser about what she was like as a child, her personal relationships or the pivotal moments that led to her becoming arguably the BBC’s sharpest interviewer and lead presenter of Newsnight. While she does devote a chapter to her experience of being stalked, Airhead is mostly a compendium of her biggest interviews with politicians, celebrities, thinkers and, in one case, an actual living god. In showing us what happens in front of the camera as well as the chaos behind it, her aim is less to tell her life story than reveal the blood, sweat and tears that go into planning and delivering the news. “Unlike print there is no room for annotation or commentary as you go along,” she writes in the introduction. “What appears on the screen is what people see. Everything else is just interpretation.”And so we accompany Maitlis as she is dispatched to Paris to cover the Bataclan terrorist attack; to Hong Kong to report on the umbrella democracy protests, and to Boone County, Iowa, for a Democratic caucus in a snow-smothered farmhouse. There are one-to-ones with Donald Trump, Tony Blair, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, the former civil rights activist Rachel Dolezal, Emma Thompson, James Comey and more, and here the presenter is able to share the build-up and comedown around each exchange. Some accounts work better than... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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English bookshop in Paris to close

An English-language bookshop in Paris is to close its doors in July after 30 years. The Village... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review: 'Engines of Change' by Paul Ingrassia details key cars

In 'Engines of Change,' Paul Ingrassia looks at history through 15 iconic cars, including the Ford Model T, Chevrolet Corvette, Volkswagen Beetle, Toyota Prius.It would be impossible to count the number of automotive makes and models that have come and gone since the car was first invented — or... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nick Denton: The Banner Ad Era is Closing

There’s something of a revolt in the digital media world against the tyranny of the banner ad. Platforms like Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter aren’t running standard display ads. New-style publishers like Buzzfeed don’t lik ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'At Home on the Range' by Margaret Yardley Potter

The cookbook has been republished after an initial run in 1947, and her great-granddaughter Elizabeth Gilbert ('Eat Pray Love') reintroduces Potter in the forward. The cookbook is insightful and funny, weaving together practical advice and recipes.At Home on the Range Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: Peter Beinart's 'The Crisis of Zionism' sounds call

The author wants American Jews to force changes in Israeli policy to protect the democratic legacy of Labor Zionism. He also explains why that's unlikely to happen.Nearly all the considerable attention generated by Peter Beinart's "The Crisis of Zionism" has focused on its final 81/2 pages.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: A father and son find common ground in 'Along the Way'

Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez examine the nature of their relationship and the ways it's shaped their lives in their loving, candid new memoir.Martin Sheen was a struggling 21-year-old stage actor when his first son Emilio was born. Sheen, seventh of 10 children in a family that knew him as... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Review: “Not Extinct Yet”

If you’re more than 50 years old, you will either think this story was coincidentally familiar to your own unpredictable publishing odyssey, or immediately upon finishing “Not Extinct Yet,” you’re going to call ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Target Closes the Book on Kindle

Target, the first brick-and-mortar store to sell the Kindle, will soon pull Amazon’s popular e-reader from its shelves. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: Frank Deford goes deep, as usual

In 'My Life as a Sportswriter,' the Sports Illustrated writer reminisces on his time chronicling the offbeat and the mainstream in sports.A bio on NPR's website of its commentator Frank Deford notes that the magazine GQ christened him, quite simply, "the world's greatest sportswriter." (Is he?)... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wm Heinemann snaps up Paris Review anthology

William Heinemann has acquired an anthology of 21 stories originally published in literary... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed

A journey across the Pacific Crest Trail turns into an exercise of triumph over grief for Cheryl Strayed in her memoir, 'Wild.'Toward the end of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, "Wild," the author, who is in the middle of hiking 1,100 miles alone across the West Coast's formidable Pacific Crest Trail,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: Olen Steinhauer's 'An American Spy'

With 'American Spy,' Steinhauer finishes what he started in 'The Tourist' and 'The Nearest Exit.' It's a thrilling, irresistible masterwork of love, guilt and revenge.On two separate occasions over the last nine years, Olen Steinhauer has brought a thriller series to a close. The first was the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Will Review Kindle Newspaper Submission After All

Days after it told one publisher it had indefinitely suspended the programme to approve its Kindle newspaper edition submission, Amazon has suddenly relented. Last week, Scotland’s Herald & Times Group grumbled publicly that, after tw ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'No Time Like the Present' by Nadine Gordimer

An interracial couple navigates modern life in South African in 'No Time Like the Present,' by Nadine Gordimer.No Time Like the Present Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book reviews: 'Free Will,' 'Religion for Atheists'

The necessity of self-improvement and social betterment is thoughtfully explored in Sam Harris' and Alain de Botton's books.Free Will Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens'

The author's exuberant use of words in private is as vivid as in public.The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'Suddenly, a Knock On the Door' by Etgar Keret

The author goes from one extreme to another in this wonderfully absurdist short-story collection.Suddenly, a Knock On the Door Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'Sailor' by Tom Epperson

A mob wife fleeing her past — and a dirty U.S. marshal — gets a little help from a mysterious stranger in Epperson's modern noir tale of revenge and greed.If I were a damsel in distress fleeing a past and people who wanted me dead, like Gina Cicala in the modern noir thriller "Sailor" by Tom... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Los Angeles Review of Books' To Launch New, Enhanced Web Site

To coincide with its one-year anniversary on April 18, the Los Angeles Review of Books is re-launching its website in a multimedia platform that will include video, drop-down menus, and new feature articles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'The Beginner's Goodbye' by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler's latest novel, 'The Beginner's Goodbye,' is a classic mix of the author's themes, most especially oddball characters and the turbulent nature of families and marriages.When you pick up a novel by Anne Tyler, you can expect certain things. It will be set in Baltimore. It will follow... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anne tyler #tangible sense