One of the most celebrated American novelists best known for his historical fiction whose books Ragtime and Billy Bathgate were turned into filmsAnointed “our pre-eminent lefty” among contemporary American novelists, EL Doctorow, who has died aged 84, was praised as the “epic poet” of the forgotten American left. It was praise that he did not welcome. He proved elusive when dealing with the pigeonholes crafted by reviewers, and not a few readers. In a career spanning five decades, Doctorow feared that tidy labels were a distraction. He lived contentedly within the paradoxes of his career.He did not want to be called a political novelist. “My premise is that the language of politics can’t accommodate the complexity of fiction, which as a mode of thought is intuitive, metaphysical, mythic.” Although he wrote lovingly of the lost world of the Jewish Bronx in the 1930s, where he grew up, he rejected the idea that he was an autobiographical writer. “Every book is an act of composition,” he remarked in 1989, “and if you happen to use memories or materials from your own mind, they are like any other resource; they have to be composed. And the act of composition has no regard where the material comes from. So when it’s all done it’s all autobiographical and none of it is.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher and bookseller who championed some of the great avant-garde writers of the 20th centuryIn the 1950s the publisher and bookseller John Calder, who has died aged 91, introduced a British readership to some of the best writing from Europe, including the work of Samuel Beckett, Eugène... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jim Underwood, who has died aged 78, was a varied, thoughtful and intelligent translator, whose work was published under the name JA Underwood.From the early 1970s until his death, he was one of the key figures in bringing to a wide audience many remarkable works of French and German literature.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Earlier this postseason, Gage Everson of the Huntington Valley Little League 12-and-under All-Stars made up a phrase to describe his team’s power-hitting prowess. “We can just drop tanks and bang,” Everson said. Well, Huntington Valley unleashed its full arsenal Thursday night to stay alive in... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Betty Miles, the pioneering feminist author of more than 25 books for children and young adults, died on July 19 at the age of 90. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ditko, who was best known as co-creator of the iconic superhero Spider-Man, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment June 29. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elsevier officials have announced that Karen Hunter, who retired in 2010 as Elsevier's senior v-p of global academic and customer relations, has died. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The charismatic and profoundly influential publisher is remembered by Profile Books m.d. Andrew Franklin. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Richard Peck, winner of the Newbery Medal and widely acclaimed for his realistic YA novels, died May 23 at his home in New York City following a long illness; he was 84. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Charismatic publisher who combined erudition with commercial savvy to turn Penguin Books into a global brandIn 1978 Peter Mayer, who has died aged 82, was drafted in from the US to rescue a moribund Penguin Books. He took the beloved but by then loss-making publisher and turned it into a global... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Esteemed children’s book editor and publisher Ann Durell died at her home in Manhattan on May 6; she was 87. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author and illustrator Alice Provensen, who with her late husband Martin Provensen illustrated more than 40 books and won a Caldecott Medal and Caldecott Honor before starting a solo career, died on April 23 at 99. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author and illustrator Anne Rockwell, celebrated for her many informational picture books for very young children, died of natural causes on April 10. She was 85. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poet Sam Hamill, the founding editor of poetry publisher Copper Canyon Press, died on April 14 at his home in Anacortes, Wash., after a series of health complications. He was 74. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s book marketing director Mimi Kayden, whose tenure at Dutton and Penguin Young Readers lasted 28 years, died on April 16 following a brief illness; she was 84. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Professional musician with a second career heading the publishing company Victor GollanczLivia Gollancz, who has died aged 97, was one of the first women to head a publishing company, serving for 17 years as managing director of Victor Gollancz Ltd. But it was her earlier career as a French horn... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sono Rosenberg, a longtime copy editor for Random House who worked with authors including Maya Angelou and James Michener, died at her home in New York on March 12. She was 98. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jeff Serena, publisher of Voyageur Press, an imprint of the Quarto Group, died February 15 after a 15-month battle with stomach cancer. He was 62 Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ernest Hecht, who has died aged 88, was the last of the émigré publishers – a fact he delighted in pointing out in the wake of the passing two years ago of Lord Weidenfeld and Peter Owen. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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