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 ]
Penguin General imprint Fig Tree has bought a food memoir by actor and author Stanley Tucci in a 24-hour pre-empt. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-17 13:32:25 UTC ]
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"A Promised Land," to be released Nov. 17, weighs in at a whopping 768 pages. Obama said it's "a fun and informative read." Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2020-09-17 12:30:43 UTC ]
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THIS PAST APRIL, the Cleveland-based indie press Belt Publishing released The Last Children of Mill Creek, a memoir by Vivian Gibson. At just 150 pages, the book is a spare, elegant jewel of a work, chronicling the author’s childhood growing up in segregated St. Louis in the 1950s. In 1959, when... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-09-17 12:30:03 UTC ]
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The former president’s publisher plans to release the book after the 2020 election and has ordered a first U.S. printing of 3 million copies. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-09-17 10:00:08 UTC ]
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Frankfurt’s new program with the World Intellectual Property Organization is intended to position book publishing amid accelerating content developments in the creative industries. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson Boos: Issues Are ‘Evolving at an Extraordinary Pace’ s... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-17 09:00:09 UTC ]
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Virago has acquired Golem Girl, a memoir by artist Riva Lehrer who was born with spina bifilda, which has already won acclaim from writers including David Mitchell heralding it "a hymn to life". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 22:53:10 UTC ]
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It’s rare for President Trump to appear on networks that aren’t Fox, and even rarer for him to engage with Americans who aren’t already aboard the Trump train, but last night he did both, traveling to Philadelphia to participate in an ABC News town hall with undecided voters. Their questions, at... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-09-16 12:20:16 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired Swedish musician Neneh Cherry’s memoir, A Thousand Threads, in a 14-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 11:56:22 UTC ]
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As she publishes a moving memoir, the Corrie, Dinnerladies and West End star talks about her three-decade battle with typecasting – and almost dying of Covid-19 Shobna Gulati is speaking about this past horrendous year in surprisingly serene tones. Her mother died last autumn, and a few months... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-09-16 05:00:14 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has pre-empted a "unique" and "meticulously researched" family memoir, The Lost Café Schindler by Meriel Schindler, centred on a family business and spanning two centuries and two world wars. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-15 04:29:57 UTC ]
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Interviews Harlan Margaret Van Cao and Lan Cao / Courtesy of Penguin Random House Family in Six Tones: A Refugee Mother, an American Daughter (Viking, 2020) is a memoir written in alternating narrative chapters between Lan Cao and Harlan... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-09-14 19:40:45 UTC ]
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The countess who wanted to be the most photographed woman in the world: Nathalie Léger on Virginia Oldoïni of Castiglione. | Lit Hub History Sophia Chang on entering the Wu-Tang Clan’s inner circle: “She’s down with Wu-Tang! And that’s all you need to know!” | Lit Hub Memoir “American authors... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-14 10:30:25 UTC ]
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Even when the ice recedes, writes Vicki Laveau-Harvie, it still shapes the landscape Continue reading at The Economist
[ The Economist | 2020-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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That’s right. HarperCollins is suing Lindsay Lohan for breach of contract after she failed to deliver a manuscript for the memoir they acquired from her back in 2014. The publishing company is asking for their $365,000 back—ostensibly the first third of the reported $1 million purchase price.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-11 15:12:50 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster is to publish a political memoir by Jess Phillips, secured in a two book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-11 10:32:36 UTC ]
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Even when the ice recedes, writes Vicki Laveau-Harvie, it still shapes the landscape Continue reading at The Economist
[ The Economist | 2020-09-10 14:56:44 UTC ]
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Headline Publishing Group will publish a memoir by Cliff Todd, the former head of the Forensics Explosive Laboratory. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-10 14:02:33 UTC ]
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Michael Cohen's tell-all memoir makes the case that President Donald Trump is “guilty of the same crimes” that landed his former fixer in federal prison, offering a blow-by-blow account of Trump's... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2020-09-08 11:45:00 UTC ]
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Michael Cohen's tell-all memoir makes the case that U.S. President Donald Trump is "guilty of the same crimes" that landed his former fixer in federal prison, offering a blow-by-blow account of Trump's alleged role in a hush money scandal that... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-09-06 04:12:05 UTC ]
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William Collins has landed an '"extraordinary” memoir by Indian writer and commentator Ramachandra Guha, detailing his love affair with cricket. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-05 02:04:46 UTC ]
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