Jared Diamond is a master of cultural and historical bricolage. His books weave epic stories about the human condition from the disparate cultural practices of a wide range of people living in different environments. In his Pulitzer Prize–winning Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond used this eclectic empiricism to tell a story about the role of geography in human history. In Collapse, he used the same approach to stage a morality play about the dangers of disregarding those geographic conditions. In his new book, The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?, Diamond probes the differences between modern cultures and traditional societies that subsist through hunting and gathering, and he comes to several bold conclusions about their relative merits. His examples are evocative and his narration is powerful, but Diamond ultimately fails to substantiate his arguments. By the end of the book, it is impossible to tell if one has finished reading a masterpiece of rigorous analysis or a masterfully written collection of just-so stories. Continue reading at 'Slate'
[ Slate | 2013-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Congrats to Susan Choi for ending the year on a high note: her novel Trust Exercise, which won this year’s National Book Award for Fiction, is in development to become a limited television series with FilmNation Entertainment. Choi will write the series for FilmNation Entertainment, which was... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-12 21:43:30 UTC ]
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Sarah M. Broom won the nonfiction prize for “The Yellow House,” one of several memoirs in the category. Arthur Sze won in poetry for “Sight Lines.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-11-21 03:34:36 UTC ]
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Dialogue Books has scooped a “mighty” novel from Kit Fan, set in the last shanty town of Hong Kong before its 1997 handover to China. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-17 17:21:05 UTC ]
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With a huge landmark for the Romantic poet William Wordsworth next year, a multimillion-pound refurb of his Lake District home is set to open—and it has fresh plans to re-engage with visitors. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-07 13:38:52 UTC ]
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When did the term “fake news” begin to permeate everyday conversation? In an informal poll of friends and colleagues, almost everyone said, “sometime in 2016.” And when asked, “how do you distinguish between real and fake news?” the entire group answered the same way: they check reliable news... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-20 17:16:34 UTC ]
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Publishing lecturer Adam Blades looks at how celebrity tastemakers are transforming what we read, and what this means for professional literary criticism. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-22 01:30:03 UTC ]
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Scottish Book Trust has announced a new Bookbug Hero Award alongside its annual Learning Professional Award, with applications now open for both. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-14 09:24:00 UTC ]
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A group of private foundations led by the J. Paul Getty Trust is set to purchase the complete photography archive of Johnson Publishing—which comprises some 983,000 photographs and 3.35 million unprocessed negatives from Ebony and Jet magazines dating back to 1948—after submitting a winning $30... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-07-25 17:18:02 UTC ]
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Amazon is facing a European Commission (EC) anti-trust investigation into how it uses sensitive data from independent retailers who sell on its marketplace. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-16 20:36:53 UTC ]
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Facebook's Carolyn Everson says the company is happy to talk about brand safety if the advertiser wants to. Other Cannes highlights include more celebrity sightings and expensive juice. The post Cannes Briefing: Facebook wants to regain trust (and change the topic) appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2019-06-19 04:01:44 UTC ]
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It’s hard to go a month these days without seeing yet another report decrying the lack of trust readers have Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2019-05-21 07:00:51 UTC ]
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[caption id="attachment_153707" align="alignright" width="290"] Creative from "Merrell Magic," a custom-content campaign by AIM's Catapult Creative Labs and Backpacker magazine.[/caption] Requiring deeper insights and data, broader access to audiences and agency-like services from publishers,... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elly McCausland and Dan Saladino have won the Jane Grigson Trust prize, marking the first time the judges have decided to award the prize to two shortlisted authors. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trump’s intellectuals want to graft coherence and ideology onto an incoherent leader. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-03-15 10:00:19 UTC ]
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The Wordsworth Trust has unveiled further details of its £6.2m project to bring the poet’s story into the 21st century by enchancing its museum and his former home. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YA author Theresa Breslin and librarian Deena Wren will be honoured at this year’s Scottish Book Trust Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alex Robinson had 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Texas Christian withstood a late rally to beat Indiana State 83-69 on Tuesday night in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. TCU led 40-30 at halftime behind a balanced scoring attack as nine of the 10... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-12-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poverty Safari, Darren McGarvey’s memoir about growing up in Glasgow, has topped a readers’ poll of “most rebellious reads of the 21st century”, organised by the Scottish Book Trust. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scottish Book Trust will give away half a million books to pupils in Primary 1-3 as part of Book Week Scotland, which is taking place this week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Gerry Cambridge and Linda Strachan are part of a group of nine authors who will work with schools in Scotland as part of Live Literature School Residencies Programme, organised by Scottish Book Trust. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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