Older generations argue that young people’s insistence on equality in all things – including books – threatens to stifle free speech. But is that always true?I wouldn’t normally air my dirty literary linen in public, but here goes. When I finished writing my novel Putney, about a 13-year-old girl who has a “love affair” in the 1970s with an older man and realises decades later that it was actually abuse, my previous editor at Jonathan Cape chose not to publish it. The reasons emerged this year when he was interviewed in the Spectator. “If Lolita was offered to me today,” Dan Franklin said, “I’d never be able to get it past the acquisition team – a committee of 30-year-olds, who’d say: ‘If you publish this book we will all resign.’” He pointed to #MeToo and social media as fundamental factors: “You can organise outrage at the drop of a hat.”Fortunately, Bloomsbury’s acquisition team – overwhelmingly female and mixed aged – were brave enough to take on Putney, which was described in the Observer as “a Lolita for the era of #MeToo”. Whether there was any truth in his words or not, Franklin’s position reveals how much fear now exists in publishing. Related: Putney by Sofka Zinovieff review – a Lolita for the age of #MeToo ‘It’s only about not being an arsehole,’ my daughter said. ‘That’s not so difficult’ Related: Nabokov's Lolita: the latest thing millennials have apparently ruined Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-07-10 10:03:01 UTC ]
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The past six months have seen “explosive” online sales with print books up by 45%, e-books by 30% and audio increasing 28%, according to figures from Bookstat c.e.o. Paul Abbassi. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-19 01:00:03 UTC ]
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The book critic and Fake Accounts author says that smart readers are not being served by the publishing industry. The post Lauren Oyler on America’s Alienating Literary Culture appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-11-18 21:30:25 UTC ]
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New works by Anthony Grafton, Peter Burke, Richard Ovenden quench many a curiosity. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-11-18 15:00:00 UTC ]
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As you may have noticed, Barack Obama has a book out today. It’s a memoir, titled A Promised Land, that runs to more than seven-hundred pages and is still only a first volume—covering the period from Obama’s childhood to the raid, in 2011, that killed Osama bin Laden. Originally, Obama planned... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-11-17 13:29:32 UTC ]
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Staffers are falling into “dangerous patterns” as a result of working from home during the pandemic, delegates at The Bookseller's Futurebook conference have heard. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-16 12:10:11 UTC ]
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Printed book sales plunge in first six months of 2020 on back of shop and school closuresSee all our coronavirus coverageSales of digital books by British publishers are set to hit an all-time high this year as the public turns to reading to escape pandemic cabin fever.However, the ebook and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-14 07:00:02 UTC ]
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Orion has hired Aria’s Rhea Kurien as editorial director to lead a dynamic growth strategy for its digital imprint Orion Dash. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-02 10:17:27 UTC ]
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The National Book Critics Circle has asked members to sign a Criticism Equity Pledge, which asks them to dedicate 30% of assignments to books by BIPOC authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Headline will publish Keep the Receipts by the presenters of "The Receipts Podcast", Tolani Shoneye, Audrey Indome and Milena Sanchez. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-20 13:32:31 UTC ]
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The first round of the £275m Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated, and sees some indie presses receiving up to £200,000. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-12 07:24:04 UTC ]
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“The Perfect Nine” tells the tale of Gikuyu and Mumbi, progenitors of the Gikuyu people of central Kenya. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-12 06:09:05 UTC ]
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Carlos Lozada finds that the best works are those least focused on the president. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-08 09:18:55 UTC ]
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Syncing with Google Drive is one of the easiest ways to safeguard your data. And you can even specify how much of your internet connection’s bandwidth to use. As our digital libraries get larger and larger, we’re fortunate to be living in a time when cloud-based storage keeps getting cheaper and... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-10-01 00:00:11 UTC ]
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An awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-09-30 10:30:00 UTC ]
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A selection of Van Gogh’s correspondence gives us a fuller picture of the man behind the mercurial reputation. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-17 13:39:17 UTC ]
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Seven’s objections include weaker squads and reduced crowdsSummer without cricket on free-to-air TV loomsThe spectre of a summer without cricket on free-to-air TV has cast a shadow over the upcoming season amid reports Seven West Media has begun the process of cancelling its contract with... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-09-11 02:30:20 UTC ]
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Congratulations to Ethan Hawke, star of my favorite film (Gattaca) and arguably the most bookish man in Hollywood, who has, with today’s inclusion in the (web) pages of the New York Times Book Review, completed his Literary World Bingo Card! What is the Literary World Bingo Card you ask? Well,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-01 18:45:05 UTC ]
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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says she is returning an award from a human rights group linked to the Kennedy family after the president of the organization criticized her comments about transgender issues. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-08-28 20:34:31 UTC ]
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Del Rey UK, Cornerstone's science fiction and fantasy imprint, will publish The World of Critical Role, a "definitive guide" to the history of the online web series "Critical Role", written by cast of the series and author Liz Marsham. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-27 08:30:55 UTC ]
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A planned Amazon television adaptation of the late Scottish author Iain M Banks’ space opera, Consider Phlebas, has been cancelled. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-26 01:05:38 UTC ]
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