'Awful and fabulous': the madness of Flowers in the Attic

Forty years ago, VC Andrews’ novel about incest, rape and murder-by-doughnut was declared ‘deranged swill’, but new books under her name still sell. Why?Forty years ago this month, Flowers in the Attic, the debut novel of one VC Andrews was published. A review in the Washington Post didn’t mince its words, describing it as “deranged swill” that “may well be the worst book I have ever read”.The plot is nothing if not deranged – but even 40 years later, utterly compelling. Cathy and Chris Dollanganger and their little brother and sister, Cory and Carrie, are beautiful, blond-haired and as happy as can be until their handsome father dies. Their destitute mother tells them that in order to regain the fortune from which she has been disinherited, they must hide in their grandparents’ vast attic for a few days so she can persuade their grandfather to reinstate her as his heir.The most terrible things about my childhood probably were those that I created in my mind Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-11-14 14:02:15 UTC ]
News tagged with: #utterly compelling #terrible things #debut novel

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‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ had an exceptionally strange journey to cinematic glory

George Miller, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy look back at the making of an epic in Kyle Buchanan's "Blood, Sweat & Chrome." Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-02-22 14:23:52 UTC ]
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HarperNorth snaps up 'fabulously feelgood fiction' from Merrill

HarperNorth has snapped up "a piece of fabulously feel-good fiction" from Emily Merrill, submitted via the division's open submissions process.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-21 06:35:12 UTC ]
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Are the Navy SEALs actually awful at their jobs?

Eddie Gallagher isn’t the only example of the elite force’s problems, David Philipps writes. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-24 07:41:36 UTC ]
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Kazuo Ishiguro: ‘Some awful things have happened in the last year . . . but these are not uninteresting times’

The Nobel Prize winner talks about the pandemic, his novel “Klara and the Sun,” fatherhood and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-06-22 14:00:00 UTC ]
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In the ’80s, she wrestled as Mad Maxine. Now her debut novel takes readers inside the ring.

Writer Jeannine Mjoseth was looking for adventure when she turned to professional wrestling. She got plenty of that. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut novel


‘Dog Flowers’ traces a mother’s struggle and a daughter’s hope

In a memoir about family and identity, Danielle Geller uses her archival skills to create a portrait of her absent mother. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2021-02-05 15:52:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #absent mother #dog flowers #danielle geller #archival skills #memoir


‘Dog Flowers’ traces a mother’s struggle and a daughter’s hope

In a memoir about family and identity, Danielle Geller uses her archival skills to create a portrait of her absent mother. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2021-02-05 15:52:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #absent mother #dog flowers #danielle geller #archival skills #memoir


What a Lost Psych-Ward Memoir Teaches Us About Madness

“W-3,” Bette Howland’s account of her institutionalization, in 1968, proceeds according to a simple binary: those who suffer are patients; those who don’t are not. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-01-05 20:23:25 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: The Disney Bros.: The Fabulous Story of Walt and Roy by Alex Nikolavitch and Felix Ruiz

Alex Nikolavitch and Felix Ruiz’s ‘The Disney Bros.: The Fabulous Story of Walt and Roy’ is a probing portrait of the creative genius of Walt Disney and the role his brother Roy played in managing the money and restraining Walt’s worse tendencies. In this 11-page excerpt, Walt and Roy face a... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Yale UP snaps up English translation of Lévy’s The Virus in the Age of Madness

Yale University Press will publish the English translation of Bernard-Henri Lévy’s The Virus in the Age of Madness.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-02 02:19:04 UTC ]
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4 Under 4: Fast & Fabulous Audiobooks Under 4 Hours

Itching for a great audiobook that's on the shorter side? Here are four under four hours long. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-05-01 10:40:12 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury Absolute bags Kerridge's Hand & Flowers cookbook

Bloomsbury Absolute has bagged a cookbook from Tom Kerridge featuring recipes from his two Michelin-starred pub, the Hand & Flowers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-20 20:14:56 UTC ]
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A Prohibition story of money, madness and murder

Karen Abbott tells the tale of a fabulously wealthy bootlegger and his unfaithful wife. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-08-09 15:28:27 UTC ]
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Faber signs 'fabulous' new book by PRH's Coates and Foley

Faber & Faber has snapped up the latest book by writing duo and PRH staffers Liz Foley and Beth Coates.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-02 22:00:38 UTC ]
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Guy Gunaratne Wins the 2019 Dylan Thomas Prize for ‘Mad and Furious City’

The acclaimed debut novelist talks of his fellow-feeling for 'aspiring writers, who are writing from a place similar to where I began.' Gunaratne divides his time between London and Malmö. The post Guy Gunaratne Wins the 2019 Dylan Thomas Prize for ‘Mad and Furious City’ appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-05-17 03:10:10 UTC ]
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What Las Vegas is like during the first weekend of March Madness

With the start of March Madness, Las Vegas transforms into the epicenter of college basketball, with tens of thousands of bettors filling sports books across the city. The Los Angeles Times has dispatched Page 2 columnist Arash Markazi, videographer Mark Potts and photographer Kent Nishimura to... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber is mad on what makes us bad

Faber has triumphed in a 13-way auction for a "riveting exploration of evil" by a renowned British forensic psychiatrist, with the title subject of intense international interest. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trump brands NYT 'a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!' Here's what he's mad about now

Trump didn't get specific about the "false" reporting, but it seems likely that he saw the print edition of this morning's New York Times with the headline "Inside Trump's Angry War On Inquiries Around Him" (subhead: "Pressure Tactics Leave the President Exposed to Accusations of Obstruction")... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An unconventional memoir of madness

Books by doctors are a bestselling genre. In this case, the doctor is also the patient Continue reading at The Economist

[ The Economist | 2019-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is awful and only getting worse and I’m never leaving

It’s been over six weeks since I got good and fed up. Facebook has been a garbage company for most of its 15 years; while I’m prone to an “overboard gripe” (phrase provided by a former editor), this increasingly feels less a position than a statement of fact. Many more principled friends had left... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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