A charming French novel about an old-school publisher trying to get to grips with the digital ageAt more than one point in this novel I found myself asking: could this be any more French? Early on we meet a character described thus: “She used to be incredibly good-looking and now at thirtysomething she is creditably handsome.” Sorry? What the narrator, an ageing male publisher, looks like, or how creditably or uncreditably good-looking he is, we don’t find out. Another woman leaves the room “in a wiggle of buttock” – I dropped my annotating pencil when I read that line. “Artichokes require a degree of elegance” – there’s another drop of essence of Gallic for you.But there is more to Dear Reader, and what kept me going was that one of the subjects exercising our narrator is the issue of electronic readers – Kindles or, as our hero Robert Dubois has it, the “dear reader” of the title. This book is an elegy for a dying world: that of the printed book and, that death’s darker corollary, the reader who is still interested in, or has the attention span for, the long-form narrative. (I always thought these things were arranged better in France, with no Net Book Agreement and tax breaks for bookshops, but apparently not.) In the world of Dear Reader, there has been a general collapse of cultural understanding: the interns point out to Dubois the remarkable coincidence that the publishing house they have landed in has the same name as him. Meanwhile, Dubois cannot quite get to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thorndike Press is expanding its library of large-print titles with an eye to helping young readers develop and succeed. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos, Deborah Levy’s August Blue, and Frieda Hughes’ George: A Magpie Memoir all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.” * Fiction 1. Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck (New Directions) 10 Rave • 3... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-09 08:53:52 UTC ]
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Gilbert Cruz, the new editor of the 'Review,' plans to keep experimenting to find the perfect formula for books coverage at the paper of record. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With only young adult fiction posting a small increase, unit sales of print books fell 6.1% last week compared to the week ended June 3, 2022, marking one of the biggest declines this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In the “brutally honest” memoir “Pageboy,” the actor recounts the fears and obstacles to gender transition, and the hard-won happiness that’s followed. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-06-06 09:00:19 UTC ]
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Decades after “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” an anthology and a novel let readers see periods through the eyes of diverse protagonists. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-06-02 09:00:39 UTC ]
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More softness in all categories except adult fiction and the lack of big new titles combined to drop unit sales of print books 5.5% last week compared to the week ended May 28, 2022, at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With only the adult fiction category posting an increase, unit sales of print books fell 5.7% last week compared to May 21, 2022 at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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From the 19th century to the present, the photos collected in Todd Brewster’s latest book offer glimpses into the lives of our nation’s youngest members. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-19 09:00:43 UTC ]
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A combination of a 13.1% increase in the adult fiction category and flat sales in adult nonfiction was enough to lift unit sales of print books up 1.3% last week over the comparable week in 2022 at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Henry Threadgill’s memoir unfolds from his maddening wartime experience to his boundary-pushing musical career. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-19 02:17:52 UTC ]
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In “Yellowface,” R.F. Kuang satirizes the publishing industry with a tale of a struggling writer who passes off her recently deceased friend’s book as her own. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-16 09:00:23 UTC ]
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The executive editor at Union Square & Co. looks to nurture the work of both debut and seasoned authors. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Henry Threadgill’s memoir unfolds from his maddening wartime experience to his boundary-pushing musical career. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-15 09:00:20 UTC ]
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In new novels by the National Book Award finalists Gary D. Schmidt and Brandon Hobson, adolescent boys navigating parental loss find strength in ancient mythology. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-12 09:00:15 UTC ]
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“Our Migrant Souls,” the author’s first nonfiction book in nearly a decade, is a deeply personal meditation on Latino American experience. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-09 09:00:12 UTC ]
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A large-format photo book reveals the toll of industrialization on the landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-05 09:00:51 UTC ]
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A Nielsen report finds that sales of print books in 10 countries totaled 614 million copies last year, level with 2021 sales. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books fell 2.7% last week compared to the week ended April 30, 2022. For the second consecutive week, higher sales in the adult fiction and young adult categories were offset by declines in adult nonfiction and children's segments. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Declines in adult nonfiction and both juvenile categories offset gains in the adult fiction and young adult categories, leading to a 3.4% decline in unit sales of print books last week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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