Book reviews roundup: Jacobson’s savage satire; McInerney’s miracles; memories of Sacks

What the critics thought of Howard Jacobson’s Pussy, Lisa McInerney’s The Blood Miracles and Bill Hayes’s Insomniac CityTwo eagerly anticipated and very different novels divided critics this month. Howard Jacobson’s Pussy was written in two months in “a fury of disbelief” after Donald Trump’s US election victory, and is set in a fictionalised world in which spoiled Prince Fracassus rules. “Flawed but fascinating” wrote Anita Sethi in the i, summing up many critics’ feelings. “At its best, the book brilliantly portrays a world in which language and the complexity of ideas that it can convey have been devalued … ” The Observer’s Andrew Anthony also accentuated the positives, finding “many aesthetic pleasures to be had in Pussy. If Trump’s presidency is a source of continuing anxiety, then among its very few benefits is that it is has moved one of our finest comic writers to write an elegantly savage satire of a man who defies satire.” But this satirising of the unsatirisable vexed some. “The more you share its premises, the more you wish this satire had sharper edge. Fracassus’s unsavoury grotesqueness never trumps Trump’s,” wrote Peter Kemp in the Sunday Times, while the Independent’s Lucy Scholes felt “inclined to wonder what [Jacobson’s] hurry was. From a novelist of his pedigree ... I wanted something more considered.”Lisa McInerney’s The Blood Miracles is the follow-up to her Baileys women’s fiction prize-winning debut The Glorious Heresies and focuses on that novel’s... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Book reviews roundup: Jacobson’s savage satire; McInerney’s miracles; memories of Sacks'


Here are the meanest lines from the Times review of Jared Kushner’s book.

The first major review for Breaking History—odious lickspittle Jared Kushner’s memoir about his tenure at the Trump White House—has dropped, and it is a doozy. Published by Broadside Books (a lamentable neocon imprint of Harper Collins which boasts a stable full of prize grievance ponies like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-17 15:19:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jared kushner #major review #broadside books #harper collins #memoir


Book Review: “Mothercare,” by Lynne Tillman

Lynne Tillman’s taut memoir of caring for an aging parent runs an emotional gamut. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-08-08 19:30:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #lynne tillman #taut memoir #memoir


Sid Jacobson, Comic Book Writer With Range, Dies at 92

His portfolio included the adventures of Richie Rich and graphic treatments of 9/11 and torture by the C.I.A. He also wrote dozens of songs. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-08-06 15:16:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richie rich #wrote dozens #comic book


Book Review: “Yoga,” by Emmanuel Carrère

In his latest book, the French author celebrated for his deeply personal accounts of tragic events embraces meditation as a means of learning to write “without fabrication.” But telling the truth is complicated. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-07-31 09:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #emmanuel carrre #french author


A Classroom Without Books: Florida Teachers Told To Remove Classroom Libraries for Review

Following the "Don't Say Gay" bill, Florida teachers have been told to pull their classroom libraries until each title has been approved. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-25 17:58:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #classroom libraries #libraries


Fable Book Club App Review

The Fable app is a new platform that aims to make reading more social. Here's what one writer thought of it. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-20 10:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #make reading #book club


Book Review: ‘The Gotti Wars,’ by John Gleeson

John Gleeson’s “The Gotti Wars” is a memoir about what it took to jail America’s star gangster. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-04-29 20:03:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #john gleeson #memoir


Review: Geoff Dyer's brilliant new book on 'lateness' is about much more than Roger Federer

Dyer's gloriously shape-shifting literary project — intensely perceptive, essayistic memoir — continues with "The Last Days of Roger Federer." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-04-28 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #geoff dyer #roger federer #memoir


Rights Roundup: After London Book Fair Closes

Our featured rights deals at the end of the 2022 London Book Fair week include titles from Finland, Italy, Sweden, and more. The post Rights Roundup: After London Book Fair Closes appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-08 17:20:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rights roundup #london book fair


The best-reviewed books in March

Last month, our reviewers fell for emotional memoirs, deeply researched historical fiction and a new Maisie Dobbs installment. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-02 10:00:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #historical fiction


Why Authors Love You When You Leave a Book Review Online

Why do authors always ask for readers to leave reviews? Do reviews really help sell their books? Bottom line: yes. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-03-30 10:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bottom line #book review


February books: The best-reviewed titles of the last month

Of the many February books we reviewed, these are the titles our critics liked best. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-02-27 12:00:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Hitting the Books: 'Miracle Rice' fed China's revolution but endangered its crop diversity

Feeding the planet's 8 billion people is challenge enough and our current industrialized commercial practices are causing such ecological damage that we may soon find ourselves hard-pressed to feed any more. For decades, scientists have sought out higher yields and faster growth at the expense... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-02-05 16:30:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book written


Books in the Media: The Last Emperor of Mexico by Shawcross tops reviews

The most reviewed non-fiction book of the week was The Last Emperor of Mexico by Edward Shawcross (Faber) featuring in the Times, Sunday Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and Daily Mail.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-09 19:34:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sunday times #daily mail #non-fiction book


How the Founder of Subway Book Review Spends Her Sundays

Uli Beutter Cohen likes to bake, read Tarot cards, call her mother in Germany and spend time with book lovers on the train. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-12-31 10:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #spend time #book lovers #book review


12 books I should have reviewed this year: A critic’s lament

There were too many worthy books, but I had too little time — and, alas, too many excuses. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-12-28 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #worthy books


Jacobson, Suttie and Roden to feature at Jewish Book Week

Authors including Howard Jacobson, novelist and comedian Isy Suttie and cookbook writer and cultural anthropologist Claudia Roden are among the line-up for Jewish Book Week, which returns as an in-person event next year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-04 00:04:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #in-person event #cookbook


Book Review: ‘These Precious Days,’ by Ann Patchett

In her essay collection “These Precious Days,” the novelist and bookstore owner explores friendship, marriage and mortality. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-11-19 15:41:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #precious days #ann patchett #essay collection #bookstore


‘It is surreal’: the five-second book reviews going viral on TikTok

With 26bn views – and the ability to influence global sales – the social media app’s reading corner #BookTok is not as niche as it seemsFifteen seconds is all you need. Point your phone camera to a shelf and hold up your favourite book, or three. Add a trending soundtrack, a caption, a couple of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-11-16 16:30:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book reviews #phone camera #favourite book #stuck inside #book review


Sour Grapes by Dan Rhodes review – a vengeful satire on the publishing world

The comic novelist takes aim at the industry’s elitism, but his story of a farcical literary festival is dated – and overly focused on Will SelfFunny ha-ha is tricky. For every reader who cackles with laughter at an author writing “this person was making plans to micturate upon one’s pommes... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-11-12 09:00:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #making plans #literary festival