Amis, Hitchens and Larkin: bad behaviour and a messy personal life were once a gift for authors. Not any more | Martha Gill

Flaws used to feed their sales but now writers are expected to be saints‘As you get older you realise that all these things – prizes, reviews, advances, readers – it’s all showbiz, and the real action starts with your obituary.”Martin Amis first started spinning in favour of his future obituarists in 2003 – at the juncture, post Yellow Dog, at which prizes, reviews, advances and readers began to turn against him. He knew how things would play out. After two decades of the literary world quiet quitting Martin Amis, there has been a sudden rehabilitation. In the past week the pages of obituary sections have exploded with a strangely pre-2003 phenomenon – a semi-tolerant fascination with Amis’s personal life, and the way it may have bled into his work, and vice versa. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-27 17:31:09 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Amis, Hitchens and Larkin: bad behaviour and a messy personal life were once a gift for authors. Not any more | Martha Gill"


Amazon 'Not Optimistic' It Will Resume Selling Hachette Books Normally Soon

Amazon.com said it is "not optimistic" that a dispute with publisher Hachette Book Group will be resolved soon and added that it is acting "on behalf of customers."The comments, which Amazon made yesterday in an online post, are the first extensive remarks by the world's largest online retailer... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Issues on the Ether: The Literary Elitism Question

Setting up Wednesday's #EtherIssue debate on Twitter, Porter Anderson looks at recent writing on perceptions of elitism in the literary world. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Writers attack 'overrated' Anglo-American literature at Jaipur festival

Xiaolu Guo warns that English-language mainstream has warped a broader 'reading habit', on panel with Jhumpa Lahiri and Jonathan FranzenAmerican literature is "massively overrated", the award-winning author and film-maker Xiaolu Guo told the Jaipur literature festival – and fellow panellist and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


"Why can't lesbians just be people?"

At an event last week, an expert panel argued that lesbians on TV and in newspapers are shown as heavily sexualised, wacky, or asexual. When will it change?Actor, comedian and journalist Liz Carr is disabled and in her 40s and says: "I never see anyone on TV that I can really relate to in terms... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Is an X Factor for novelists a good idea?

A literary talent show is about to be aired in Italy, but is television the right place to nurture literary talent?Jonny Geller, agent and joint CEO, Curtis BrownAn X Factor for books is about to launch on Italian TV – it had to be Italian, didn't it? – and you can imagine the literati running... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Why are writers being curbed by NSA surveillance?

PEN American Center's report "Chilling Effects," offers some disturbing data about the effect of government surveillance on free expression and self-censorship in the literary world.PEN American Center’s report “Chilling Effects,” officially released Tuesday morning, offers some disturbing data... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


No More Late News: Financial Times Moves to One Print Edition Daily

The Financial Times will consolidate the multiple print editions it publishes each night into a single, global newspaper in the first half of 2014, using its website for breaking news as the publisher focuses on growth in digital products and perhaps sets the stage for eventual further... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pulitzer Prize: huge sales neither required nor guaranteed

After winning the highest honor in the literary world, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners have seen sales increases – but so far the numbers are pretty tiny. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


E L James as 'Publishing Person of the Year' draws outcry from literary world

Publishers Weekly faces controversy after naming 'Fifty Shades of Grey' author E L James 'Publishing Person of the Year' for 2012. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Can Fraudulent Writers Ever Be Redeemed?

Can fraudulent writers, aka Johah Lehrer, ever be forgiven? Or should they simply be cast into permanent exile from the literary world? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Does the literary world need a women-only prize?

The Rosalind Prize for Fiction – named for Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' heroine – follows awards like Australia's women-only Stella Prize and the U.K.'s Orange Prize. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Sunday Conversation: Martin Amis talks 'Lionel Asbo,' money

The story is about a criminal who wins the lottery, and the author has moved to America, land of the super PACs, so money is on his mind.Martin Amis, once dubbed "fiction's angriest writer," continues dissecting the absurdity and excesses of postmodern society in his latest novel, "Lionel Asbo:... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Virgin buys Palin book

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:17 Virgin Books has acquired a title about US political firebrand Sarah Palin, written by Joe McGinniss. Publishing director Ed Faulkner bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Crown Publishers in the US to The Rogue, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


London Book Fair 2011: Going Global

In 2009, the number of self-published books released in the US exceeded the number of new titles from conventional publishers for the first time in history. Now, a similar pattern is emerging overseas. Until recently, costly transatlantic shipping, different trim sizes and business models, and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this