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 ]
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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Guardian Weekend magazine and gal-dem are launching a memoir writing competition for UK-resident black women and black non-binary people aged 16-21 on the theme of ‘conversations’Calling all young black women and black non-binary writers aged 16-21. The Guardian is once again collaborating on a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-10-22 11:23:42 UTC ]
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Lee Brackstone, publisher at White Rabbit, has acquired world all-language rights for Medical Grade Music directly from authors Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-22 10:33:59 UTC ]
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Former Crown publisher Molly Stern has returned to book publishing as the founder of Zando, an independent publisher that will develop its own list as well as partner with “influential people, platforms and institutions to acquire and publish new titles under their own imprints." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Thank you, universe: We’re getting a queer Canadian grunge-era comedy series about Tegan and Sara Quin directed by Clea DuVall, and there’s literally nothing I can do to make that sentence better. The show will be based on High School, the sisters’ memoir of their adolescence in Calgary,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-21 18:12:12 UTC ]
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To close out October’s theme of beauty privilege, Kendra and Sumaiyya discuss Say Hello by Carly Findlay and If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha. From the episode: Sumaiyya: My discussion pick is If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha, which is set in Seoul, South Korea. This looks at four young women... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-21 08:47:55 UTC ]
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McConaughey’s memoir “Greenlights” is full of can-do thoughts about this thing he calls “livin.” Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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In his long-awaited answer to the government's civil complaint, former national security adviser John Bolton denied that he broke any laws in publishing his bestselling memoir 'The Room Where It Happened.' But with a DoJ motion for Summary Judgment now pending before the court, it's unclear... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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