Cutting ’Em Down to Size

Every critic knows that readers love a spirited hatchet job, whether or not the author being chopped is one whose work they’ve hated—or even read. Much of the public seems to possess an ambient belief that the literary world is filled with frauds and self-styled geniuses whose reputations have been propped up by venal publishers and the reviewers who toady up to them. In this light, anyone who dares to challenge the allegedly phony consensus by ripping apart one of the unjustly elect gets hailed as a hero. Every so often, a particularly harsh review will prompt an outcry; recently this happened after William Giraldi’s slashing, in the New York Times Book Review, of two books by the relatively unknown novelist, Alix Ohlin, whom he damned for embracing “the bland earnestness of realism.” But Ohlin was small fry, and much of the outrage Giraldi’s review ignited—he was accused on Twitter of failing to perform a critic’s basic duties and of producing a “pretentious, vicious and self-regarding” piece of work, among other offenses—seemed to arise from the sense that he was an insufferable blowhard while she was nice, or at the very least, harmless. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2017-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Cutting ’Em Down to Size"


Cutting ’Em Down to Size

Every critic knows that readers love a spirited hatchet job, whether or not the author being chopped is one whose work they’ve hated—or even read. Much of the public seems to possess an ambient belief that the literary world is filled with frauds and self-styled geniuses whose reputations have... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book clinic: do editors often have to cut authors down to size?

Overwriting is a common problem among beginners, but it happens to the best of them – ask a professional editorMost writers I know massively overwrite. How common is it for a published author to have had an editor do a big cutting job?Retired 72-year-old psychotherapist, living in IndiaRichard... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hands On: Nokia's Lumia Icon cuts the phablet down to size

Sanity has been restored to Nokia’s Lumia smartphone lineup with the release of the Nokia Icon. This Verizon exclusive pulls the best features from Nokia’s massive 6-inch phablets—the Lumia 1520 in particular—and tucks them behind a manageable, 5-inch OLED display.I purposefully seek out large... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review: Free and portable Briss cuts PDFs down to size

This portable app's website says "Bright Snippet Sire," but everybody calls this open-source favorite Briss for…er…short. Briss crops a section of a PDF file and creates another PDF file of the cropped area. You can crop unwanted areas from PDFs with Briss. It's free, open-source, and portable,... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tattooist proves indelible at the top as The Cut Out Girl cuts in

Heather Morris’ The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Zaffre) has secured a fourth non-consecutive week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 17,106 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s TCM—a bump of 11% in volume week on week. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sunday Express editor David Wooding departs Reach amid further job cuts

Wooding left as part of a move to dismantle the remaining dedicated Sunday Express editorial team to create a seven-day operationThe Sunday Express editor, David Wooding, has become the latest top editorial executive to depart Reach, as the national and regional newspaper publisher embarks on... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-11-16 14:19:24 UTC ]
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The best live TV streaming services to cut cable in 2024

You basically have three options for watching live TV at home: Hook up a digital antenna, pay for a cable subscription or sign up for a live TV streaming service. The content you get through a digital antenna is free, but limited to your local broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS).... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-10-31 09:00:36 UTC ]
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International Publishers Call on Frankfurt to Cut Ties with Israel

Publishers for Palestine, a coalition of more than 500 publishers in 50 countries, issued an open letter demanding that organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair, slated for October 16-20, "refuse collaboration with complicit Israel book publishers." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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500 international publishers demand Frankfurt Book Fair cut ties with Israel.

Publishers for Palestine, a global solidarity collective of more than 500 publishers in 50 countries, has issued an open letter to the Frankfurt Book Fair (the world’s largest trade fair for books, which this year takes place from October 16 – 20 and is expected to bring in over 200,000... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-25 16:37:53 UTC ]
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Why Vox Media’s The Cut Made a Print Issue for September

Vox Media is expanding its print offerings. This year, the digital media company is launching The Cut's first-ever Fall Fashion Issue. The Cut, part of New York Magazine, is competing for lucrative print ad dollars that fashion-focused publications like Vogue and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2024-09-04 17:00:06 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: 'Deep Cuts' by Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark

'Deep Cuts,' written by Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark and featuring a diverse group of artists, is a richly imagined and illustrated anthology that uses fictional vignettes to recreate the history of Jazz. An 11-page excerpt. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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City’s new $112B budget undoes cuts as Adams looks to re-election

Mayor Eric Adams announced a deal on a $112 billion budget with the City Council on Friday, reversing a small but notable fraction of his unpopular cuts as he looks toward a difficult re-election bid next year.The spending plan for Fiscal Year 2025 also makes some new investments at the urging... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2024-06-28 21:14:47 UTC ]
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Spotify’s Basic plan returns to $11 a month by cutting audiobooks

Spotify has a new plan for US subscribers that keeps you on the old $11 monthly pricing — as long as you don’t mind ditching audiobooks. The new Basic tier includes the music and podcast content you get from Premium but without 15 hours of audiobook access, a recently added feature we suspect... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-06-21 18:36:40 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Education Cuts Loss on Small Sales Gain

Barnes & Noble Education has released preliminary financial results that showed company revenue rising 1.5% in the fiscal year ended April 27, 2024, and net loss falling to $63 million, from $90 million a year ago. Total sales were $1.57 billion. B&NE expects to receive final approval... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Alice McDermott’s Writing Mantra: “Ah, Fuck Em.”

Photo by Miria-Sabina Maciągiewicz. As Emerson said to Whitman: “I greet you at the beginning of a great career, which yet must have had a long foreground somewhere, for such a start.” The same words my editor said to me when I published my first novel in—good God—1982! Although I have to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-10 08:56:38 UTC ]
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On Politics: Eric Adams' library cuts would sever a vital lifeline

One of the great embarrassments of New York, the richest city in America, is how money can’t be found to keep public libraries open every single day.It is, truly, a matter of priorities. Other far-reaching, progressive policy proposals can come with enormous upfront costs — municipal or... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2024-04-29 15:50:14 UTC ]
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Fed rate cuts unlikely thanks spending by rich Americans

As baby boomers have aged, they have accumulated more assets leading to more discretionary spending. Since retiring two years ago, Joan Harris has upped her travel game.Once or twice a year, she visits her two adult children in different states. She’s planning multiple other trips, including to... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2024-04-29 13:22:05 UTC ]
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How Tech Giants Cut Corners to Harvest Data for A.I.

OpenAI, Google and Meta ignored corporate policies, altered their own rules and discussed skirting copyright law as they sought online information to train their newest artificial intelligence systems. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-04-06 09:00:17 UTC ]
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Two novelists have cut ties with PEN over its Mayim Bialik event and Gaza silence.

Two prominent novelists have broken with PEN America over the organization’s decision to platform controversial actor and outspoken ceasefire opponent Mayim Bialik, as well as its relative silence on the unfolding genocide in Gaza (which so far has claimed the lives of at least 120 writers,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

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Amazon's Audible is laying off 5% of its workforce, marking another round of job cuts in tech

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