Man Booker prize judge Colin Thubron has complained this week that star endorsements bully readers into admiring books, but it’s long been standard practiceSetting cats among pigeons has long been an unofficial part of the contract for judges of the Booker prize. Remember Chris Mullin’s insistence on “zip–along” novels, or, way back in 1992, AN Wilson’s condemnation of the prize itself as “essentially trivial”? This year’s flurry of fur and feathers was provoked by a tirade from Colin Thubron on celebrity endorsements. Some blurbs, said the veteran travel writer, “almost blackmail” readers into feeling that “you’re either intellectually or morally incompetent if you don’t love this book or you’ve failed if you haven’t understood it”. Some people, he felt, “seem to earn their living … saying: ‘This is the most profound book of our generation.’”Starting our Iris Murdoch bookclub with this '69 @PenguinUKBooks edition - you don't find blurbs like this any more! pic.twitter.com/P2XUvgtKAM Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Readers Digest Association has eliminated 150 positions across all of its business groups worldwide, with half the cuts affecting jobs in the U.S. and the other half international. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Night in the US has appointed Pulitzer Prize-wining journalist Anna Quindlen as its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French booksellers have called it a "catastrophe" that VAT rates will go up to 7% in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Printed book sales soared by £8.6m week on week last week, but spending remains down on... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has set up a literary events arm called Bloomsbury Institute, hosting literary salons... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Crime Writers Association (CWA) is to launch a new initiative, the Crime Readers... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Half of the one million books to be given away on the next World Book Night on April 23rd 2012... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon.com has acquired 450 titles from publisher Marshall Cavendish, marking the retailer's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Printed book sales soared by £8.8m week-on-week last week, with the latest edition of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple's entry into the ebook business hasn't been a huge success, but it has still registered with European antitrust regulators. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Asda will begin selling the Kobo wireless e-reader for £67 this Friday (9th December). The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion is to extend its early reader series after achieving sales of 1.3 million units for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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According to a survey, 24 percent of people who said they had bought books from an online retailer in the last month also said they had seen the book in a brick-and-mortar bookstore first. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstone's m.d. James Daunt has called Amazon a "ruthless, money-making devil",... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The only non-fiction title shortlisted for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award has taken home the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Titles on rugby, cycling, horse racing and Gaelic games have been shortlisted for this year... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American author Jack Kerouac's first ever novel, which was thought to be lost, has been published 40 years after his death. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital royalty rates paid to authors by publishers are increasing, though there remains... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Megan Raphael, executive director of the National Writers Series, a literary nonprofit organization, in Traverse City, Mich., insists that local government leaders should declare it a book city. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 23/11/2011 - 08:30 W H Smith has launched a colour WiFi Kobo e-reader, priced £169.99 and with a multimedia touch screen and social media tie-in. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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