On Tuesday, Donald Rumsfeld—who, as defense secretary under George W. Bush, was a driving force behind the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—died. Major outlets wheeled out pre-written obituaries. The AP’s, by Robert Burns, bordered on hagiography. Its headline initially declared Rumsfeld “a cunning leader undermined by Iraq war”; that language was later changed to “cunning leader who oversaw a ruinous Iraq war,” but the opening paragraph still says that “try as he might,” Rumsfeld “could not outmaneuver the ruinous politics of the Iraq war,” as if he had been forced to play chess against a supercomputer. The Iraqi death toll from the war is not noted; the American death toll is—but not before Rumsfeld’s charitable work on behalf of veterans, his “accomplished” college wrestling career, and colleagues’ recollections of his smarts and patriotism. The first words of the article’s URL are “Chicago Bears,” a reference to the football team Rumsfeld supported as a kid. Because the AP is a wire service, the obituary was republished widely. Other prominent efforts were better, but did not adequately foreground the human cost of Rumsfeld’s military aggression: The New York Times addressed Iraq only after mentioning the records he broke as defense secretary (he was the youngest person in that post, under Gerald Ford, then the oldest, under Bush) and his reputation as a “combative infighter” who challenged “military orthodoxies.” The Washington Post described him as “controversial,” but... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-07-02 12:32:38 UTC ]
Since 1985, literary agent Richard Curtis has irregularly chronicled the state of trade book publishing in verse in the pages of 'Publishers Weekly.' In honor of his final year-end poem, we've republished them all here. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-12-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The year’s best books include the novel “James” by Percival Everett and a memoir by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2024-12-18 16:59:22 UTC ]
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Dr. Guy Leschziner explores the science behind the more unsavory aspects of our personalities. | Lit Hub Science Sara B. Franklin on reading children’s lit in troubled times | Lit Hub Memoir What do we really need from our literary heroes? | Lit Hub Memoir “Every food tells a story, and like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-12-11 11:30:59 UTC ]
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Many celebrities’ books are actually written by others, the UK writers’ union says, and it’s time they were acknowledgedThe Society of Authors (SoA) is calling on celebrities and the publishing industry to properly acknowledge the writers behind celebrity books, particularly those aimed at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-12-10 16:42:22 UTC ]
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Gypsy-Rose Blanchard spent years in prison for helping to kill her mother. Now she's about to become a parent herself — and is out with a memoir about her childhood Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-12-10 11:00:49 UTC ]
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Here are this week's bestsellers from the five biggest lists, including part one of Cher's memoir and THE SERVICEBERRY by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-12-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor, seems to inch closer and closer to running for mayor.He clearly hoped Mayor Eric Adams, indicted on corruption charges in September, would resign, triggering a special election. Cuomo, for now, seems less enthusiastic about taking on Adams directly.... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-12-03 18:43:26 UTC ]
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December's new mysteries and thrillers include a Japanese murder mystery, a true crime memoir of a woman raised by a serial killer, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-12-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Artificial intelligence is pushing the publishing world toward volume. That could drown out the good work. AI has the power to pump out words in record speed. And already, that’s substantially inflating the book publishing market. Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-12-02 09:00:00 UTC ]
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The film distributor, production company, and streaming service, will launch a publishing arm, Mubi Editions, next April, focusing on titles on cinema and the arts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-12-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Donald Trump is coming back to the White House, but don't expect another “Fire and Fury,” or much fire and fury in book publishing in general Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2024-11-26 14:46:31 UTC ]
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Cher discovered that mom Georgia Holt had inadvertently put 'Cheryl' on the birth certificate. Luckily, her memoir gets much juicier. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-11-26 01:23:22 UTC ]
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One thing is clear from the get-go: Werner Herzog, the enigmatic German icon of all things Art, likes for things to be precise. He makes sure I know this within the first minutes of our meeting. He is in Paris for48 hours for the release of the French translation of his memoir Every Man for […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-25 09:57:37 UTC ]
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Cher’s memoir is a valuable document of a young girl thrust into the adult world. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2024-11-22 17:45:00 UTC ]
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Her own is called “Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me,” which follows anthologies that grew out of founding the Well-Read Black Girl book club. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-11-21 10:00:06 UTC ]
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Out of an impressive shortlist, Richard Flanagan’s Question 7 has won 2024’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. Flanagan’s wide-ranging memoir and history weaves together H.G. Wells and Rebecca West’s affair, pre-war nuclear physics, his father’s imprisonment near Hiroshima when the American... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-19 22:15:16 UTC ]
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"This is the kind of book that's hard to imagine until you're reading it: it doesn't seem possible, and then it is." Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-11-19 13:00:00 UTC ]
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In the first volume of her memoir (which she hasn’t read), she explores her difficult childhood, her fraught marriage to Sonny Bono and how she found her voice. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-11-17 10:00:52 UTC ]
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Gabrielle Bellot on the radical and harrowing nature of being trans in Trump’s America. | Lit Hub Memoir Lili Anolik explores the tumultuous, iconic, and unmistakably literary friendship between Eve Babitz and Joan Didion. | Lit Hub Biography “I am glad not to be a Greenland shark; I don’t have... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-16 11:30:58 UTC ]
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Gabrielle Bellot on the radical and harrowing nature of being trans in Trump’s America. | Lit Hub Memoir “Goodness is neither wisdom nor wealth; ironically, like evil, in its purest form good is not instrumental, utilitarian, or even pragmatic.” Ed Simon on the Seven Deadly Sins and how good... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-15 11:30:28 UTC ]
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