Billed as ‘a therapeutic novel’, the publisher’s first foray into fiction follows 29-year-old Anna’s mental health journey – with a view to helping the reader. But how useful can such clunky writing be?At 29 years old, Anna is full of self-loathing. She hates her job, her boyfriend is having an affair and her parents’ response to her troubles is indifferent at best. This is the starting point for A Voice of One’s Own, the first novel to be published by The School of Life. In its pages, fiction and self-help make for uneasy bedfellows.Co-founded by philosopher Alain de Botton in 2008, The School of Life broadly aims to teach its “students” how to lead calmer, more fulfilling lives. Its publishing arm, launched in 2016, disseminates self-help literature with pithy titles such as Reasons to be Hopeful and A Simpler Life, which purport to blend philosophical wisdom with practical advice. Like De Botton himself, the books are Marmite; while many critique the school for peddling watered-down pop philosophy, its teachings have clearly found a market. The organisation has branches in seven major cities, and its most popular title, Big Ideas for Curious Minds, has sold over 120,000 copies globally, while its workshops on playfulness, confidence and self-awareness regularly sell out. The new book represents a departure, however. Through A Voice of One’s Own, The School of Life is showing, rather than telling, its readers how to live better. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-07 15:45:50 UTC ]
In her first novel in five years, the author of “My Brilliant Friend” revisits old themes. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-09-01 09:00:11 UTC ]
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Interviews Get to know the participants of the upcoming 2020 Neustadt Festival in this series of short interviews. First up: David Bellos! David Bellos is a professor of French and comparative literature as well as director of the Program in Translation... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-08-25 20:30:39 UTC ]
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Picador has picked up the first novel in eight years from award-winning Irish author Keith Ridgway. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-24 11:52:26 UTC ]
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Makenna Goodman on leaving New York publishing behind for the farms of Vermont, and why publishing her first novel was traumatic. Continue reading at The Paris Review
[ The Paris Review | 2020-08-20 17:18:24 UTC ]
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DMGT says quarterly print advertising down 69% and digital income down 17% The publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, the i and Metro is to cut up to 100 roles as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hammer the newspaper and magazine industry.Daily Mail & General Trust, which also... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-13 11:23:11 UTC ]
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Tate has announced it is making 313 redundancies in its commercial operations, Tate Enterprises, including at its bookshops and publishing arm. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-12 12:23:19 UTC ]
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The 2020 Edinburgh International Book Festival will be presented online from Saturday 15 to Monday 31 August. The programme, made up of over 140 events for adults, families and children, will offer both live and pre-recorded conversations featuring leading writers, poets and participants from... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-08-07 14:45:31 UTC ]
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Gayl Jones published her first novel in 1975. It was hailed by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and John Updike. Then Gayl disappeared from the literary scene. Now she's releasing her first novel in 20 years. The post The Long-Awaited Return of Gayl Jones appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-08-05 20:30:18 UTC ]
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Analysis: Murdoch was considered a dissenting voice at the rightwing company. Now his brother Lachlan could see his influence growJames Murdoch’s resignation from the board of News Corp confirms divisive splits in the publishing arm of his family’s media empire and removes a powerful dissenting... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-01 18:24:26 UTC ]
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Commenters responded to a recent essay about giving away books with a mix of philosophical musings and practical advice. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-01 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Joseph is publishing the first novel from Dawn French in five years, called Because of You, this October. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-29 17:04:51 UTC ]
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Full disclosure: I may not be the right person to answer the question posed in this headline. After all, I wrote my first novel almost entirely from bed. In fact, I am writing this essay from bed now. Like Edith Wharton, Colette, and Proust, I am more creative when reclined, and when... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-28 10:44:03 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury says books were a lockdown hit, with children’s division revenue up 27%The backlash against JK Rowling’s views on transgender law reform has failed to dent the popularity of the Harry Potter author’s books, with publisher Bloomsbury saying they have proved a lockdown hit, pushing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-21 12:29:43 UTC ]
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Tsukiyama’s first novel in nearly a decade takes readers to the 1930s Hawai’i of her Japanese father, where sugar was king and labor was hard. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-20 12:07:23 UTC ]
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Headline Review has won Radhika Sanghani's first novel for adults, 30 Things I Love About Myself, in a "heated" auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-17 00:46:50 UTC ]
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As the lockdown restrictions to contain the spread of Covid-19 begin to be relaxed across the UK, we’re bringing you the final instalment of our Literature on Lockdown series.Following the worldwide demonstrations, protests and public events in support of the Black Lives Matter movement,... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-06-16 16:00:51 UTC ]
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Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017, will be published by Faber & Faber on 2nd March 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-16 08:35:46 UTC ]
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Nineteen books from 15 countries and 13 languages have won English PEN’s flagship translation awards, including the first novel from South Sudan ever to be published in the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-10 01:27:30 UTC ]
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A former director of the Harlem Writers Guild, she published her first novel when she was 55, and her first mystery, featuring a stylish female ex-cop turned sleuth, when she was 64. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-06-05 21:17:02 UTC ]
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The Desmond Elliott Prize is awarded annually to a writer whose first novel is written in English and published in the UK. Since 2007, it has supported and heralded new writers; the honor comes with a £10,000 prize. It’s heartening to see, especially right now, that this year the Desmond Elliott... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-02 17:58:53 UTC ]
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