The Fall of Language in the Age of English, by the Japanese novelist and scholar Minae Mizumura, has all the ingredients of a rage-read. Indeed, when it was published in Japan in 2008, it infuriated commentators, who dismissed Mizumura as “reactionary,” “jingoistic,” or “elitist” and swarmed across Amazon deleting positive reviews. More than 65,000 copies have sold since then—which suggests the slender work’s declinist soothsaying continues to touch a nerve. The book appears this month in English (enemy territory!), where—if we Yanks could be trusted to read something first penned in a non-Western tongue—it would likely inspire more umbrage, more name-calling, more amorphous unease. The book’s basic premise, developed in a sinuous line through seven chapters, is that every language creates and nourishes untranslatable truths. Dominant languages infuse their verities into the wider world, crowding out alternative visions from more minor tongues. Linguistic asymmetry isn’t new—over the past two centuries, Latin, classical Chinese, and French each took a turn in the sun—but never has one language so completely eclipsed the rest, Mizumura says, as today, in the age of the Internet, with English. Continue reading at 'Slate'
[ Slate | 2015-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Almost 6,000 copies of Girl, Woman, Other sold in the week after Evaristo’s win alongside Margaret AtwoodBernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other more than doubled its lifetime sales in the week following its Booker prize win, with joint winner The Testaments by Margaret Atwood also flying off... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-22 16:25:45 UTC ]
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Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from the likes of Jami Attenberg, Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne, Hisham Matar, Silvina Ocampo, Robert Pinsky, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2019-10-22 10:00:12 UTC ]
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#silvina ocampo
#hisham matar
Reflecting on “starting from scratch” with every new customer in a children’s bookstore. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-21 12:00:07 UTC ]
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Garrett M. Graff weaves together first-person accounts to create an evocative history of 9/11. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-11 15:37:48 UTC ]
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The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing styleJohn Humphrys is the first to admit he doesn’t deal well with authority. He inherited it from his father, who refused to use the service entrance... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-10 06:30:10 UTC ]
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From the author of “Ghost” and “Long Way Down,” another poignant tale about growing up. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Retailers are gearing up for a bumper Super Thursday ahead of this Saturday's Bookshop Day 2019 when events will be taking place up and down the country. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-03 08:58:18 UTC ]
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Celebrations for National Poetry Day are underway with Prince Charles reciting his favourite poem on Radio 2 and poets across the country revealing new poems inspired by the places we call home. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-03 07:57:04 UTC ]
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#call home
Elliott and Thompson has acquired a “lyrical, evocative and beautiful book” from Arctic traveller and writer Nancy Campbell called Fifty Words for Snow. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-02 06:51:39 UTC ]
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As reported in The Republic, Columbus, Ohio’s Mason Engel had already tried to get his self-published reboot of Orwell’s dystopian classic, 1984, into the hands of New York literary agents—like, right into their actual hands. After reaching number one in Amazon’s dystopian fiction category,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-25 15:11:55 UTC ]
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Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. If you're reading this online or in a forwarded email, here's the link to sign up for our daily newsletter. You can also get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Day One of... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-24 10:00:00 UTC ]
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As a lowly editorial assistant, Aidy Bryant is hustling to break into the publishing world on the Hulu series Shrill. So it's fitting that the streaming service is making journalism more accessible for everyone. For today only, Hulu is offering everyone free access to all of Adweek's content.... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2019-09-23 04:01:50 UTC ]
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Coronet has commissioned a collection of love letters to Europe from contributors including JK Rowling, Neil Gaiman and Pete Townshend, to be published on Brexit deadline day. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-22 14:13:22 UTC ]
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Authors Matt Haig, Anthony Horowitz and Greg James are among those featured on World Book Day’s 2020 list. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-22 12:10:19 UTC ]
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David Cameron marked publication day of his autobiography today with a flurry of high profile interviews as HarperCollins hails the success of his memoir. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-18 16:43:56 UTC ]
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Sponsored by The Atlantis Code, an “Indiana Jones meets Da Vinci Code” adventure by NYT bestselling author Charles Brokaw. These ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-09-16 14:54:04 UTC ]
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Sponsored by What They Meant for Evil by Rebecca Deng, published by FaithWords, an imprint of Hachette Book Group These ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-09-11 14:25:33 UTC ]
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Waterstones has celebrated its biggest first day of sales of 2019 with Margaret Atwood's Booker-shortlisted The Testaments (Chatto & Windus). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-10 14:52:54 UTC ]
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Well, today is the day you’ve all been waiting for: Margaret Atwood’s hotly hyped, closely guarded, imperfectly embargoed, Booker-shortlisted The Testaments is on the bookstore shelves. For the superfans among you, we’ve collected a selection of photographs of Atwood below, from childhood to the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-10 08:49:55 UTC ]
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As it works to create a more customer-friendly show, Reed Exhibitions said the BookExpo show floor will be open for two days in 2020, preceded by a day of programming. Other changes are under consideration. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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