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 ]
Don’t expect the usual bromides about hard work and resilience in “One Life.” The soccer star’s memoir gets into her political awakening as much as it does her sports career. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-11-06 10:00:28 UTC ]
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As it enters its fourth decade, the Great Courses, the Teaching Company’s educational audio and video publisher, has increased its focus on digital video content and distribution—all while inking new deals with such partners as Penguin Random House and Scientific American. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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FutureBook celebrates start-ups that are making a unique impact on the book publishing industry. Over the past few years, the judges have rewarded both high-growth start-ups and smaller players transforming the business of books. Previous winners include Reedsy, Kadaxis, Unrd, The Pound Project... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-06 02:47:19 UTC ]
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Monoray, part of the Octopus Publishing Group, has acquired Where Did I Go Right?: How The Left Lost Me by comedian and writer Geoff Norcott. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 03:36:21 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has snapped up an “exquisite” memoir about the challenges facing gay men today from acclaimed poet and Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year shortlistee Seán Hewitt. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-03 07:03:12 UTC ]
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Bonnier Books UK’s new literary imprint Manilla Press has acquired a "powerful memoir" from debut author Bexy Cameron exploring her childhood in the notorious cult Children of God. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-02 00:29:45 UTC ]
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FEW WRITERS MANAGE to capture the essence of the California that exists beyond the images typically offered up by film and television — palm trees, beaches, gridlock, Hollywood, Kardashians; images the rest of the country seems so willing to accept about us “out here.” Kendra Atleework’s new... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-11-01 18:00:10 UTC ]
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Journalist Maria Hinojosa talks about her memoir "Once I Was You," and how a childhood trauma triggered her interest in immigration reporting. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-10-31 16:00:33 UTC ]
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Harper buys a memoir from Alexander Vindman, a WaPo columnist sells his memoir to S&S, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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CHRISTA PARRAVANI’S SEMINAL Guernica essay published last year, “Life and Death in West Virginia,” was my introduction to this author and inspired me to seek out more of her work. I was thrilled when she agreed to an interview. The personal is political, and in Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-10-29 19:00:52 UTC ]
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The push in book publishing for more authors and workers of color hasn’t abated, and companies are increasingly making lasting changes to the way they do business. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-10-29 16:18:17 UTC ]
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Barack Obama’s memoir is landing. So is a biography of Adrienne Rich and buzzy fiction from Jo Nesbo, Nicole Krauss and Susie Yang. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-10-29 09:00:34 UTC ]
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Headline has acquired Drama Queen, a "compelling and funny" memoir about autism from comedy writer Sara Gibbs. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-29 03:20:34 UTC ]
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Faber is to publish a memoir from Evan Dando, frontman of alternative rock band the Lemonheads, in 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-27 02:20:55 UTC ]
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Indie September Publishing has revealed two lead titles for spring: Melissa Rice's memoir Sobering: Lessons Learnt the Hard Way on Drinking, Thinking and Quitting, and Ronald J Deibert's non-fiction work, Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-27 01:43:01 UTC ]
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In an excerpt from his upcoming memoir published by the New Yorker, former President Barack Obama recalls the long battle for healthcare reform. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-10-26 19:52:09 UTC ]
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From André Breton to Alison Bechdel, memoir writers have turned the genre upside down. Now a photographer recreates her troubled suburban childhood in a book, casting a movie star — Laura Dern — as her mother. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-10-26 17:41:25 UTC ]
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“My hope was that by embracing openness and vulnerability, my readers would understand and empathize with the situation I had found myself in.” Allison Wood talks to Luna Adler about what a memoir can do. | Lit Hub Memoir “There is enough evidence in the public record to support a complaint that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-26 10:30:04 UTC ]
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CONTEMPORARY FASCISM HAS MOVED faster than conventional book publishing can turn out the books to explain it. Two recent releases highlight markedly different approaches to the contemporary far right and a fundamental disagreement over how to contain its spread. Sociologist Cynthia... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-10-25 15:00:46 UTC ]
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Bookable features established authors and emerging talent in conversation with host and author Amanda Stern, perhaps best known for creating the Happy Ending Music & Reading Series at New York’s famous Joe’s Pub and Symphony Space. With an immersive sound experience designed around each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-23 08:48:34 UTC ]
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