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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Ava Weiss, the highly regarded, former longtime art director at Greenwillow Books, died on November 25 at the age of 95. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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William “Bill” B. Eerdmans Jr., who led the family-owned Christian publishing house Wm. B. Eerdmans for more than 50 years, died on November 13. He was 97. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Don O’Connor, Macmillan’s senior field sales and national account manager for Ingram Kids, died on November 13. He was 63. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Mildred Hird, one of the first publishing executives to specialize in the sale of foreign rights of American books, died on November 2 at her home in New York City. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Maschler Born 16th August 1933 Died 15th October 2020 Rogers, Coleridge & White managing director Peter Straus remembers the late, acclaimed publisher Like many of the impressive publishers to emerge after the Second World War, Tom Maschler was a Jewish émigré from Europe. He was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-30 04:38:04 UTC ]
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Randy Kessler, national accounts manager at Scholastic, died unexpectedly on October 22 at the age of 50. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Booker prize founder and publisher of some of the greats of 20th-century fictionTom Maschler, publisher and managing director of Jonathan Cape and the architect of the Booker prize for fiction, has died aged 87. A glamorous, perma-tanned figure with aquiline features and unruly hair, who dressed... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-10-16 17:49:02 UTC ]
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Doctorow’s speculative fiction may not have predicted our current moment, but it’s still savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-13 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s book editor David Gale, who shaped a distinguished roster of award-winning titles and proudly championed works of LGBTQ literature, died on October 9 following a long illness; he was 65. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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My mother, Janet Freer, who has died aged 89, was a literary agent for science-fiction writers in the 1960s and 70s. She helped launch the careers of several young SF writers.Janet began work as a commercial artist before starting her publishing career in London around 1962. She spent several... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-10-11 15:38:47 UTC ]
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Author Bette Greene, known for her books honestly addressing difficult subject matter, including 'Summer of My German Soldier,' died on October 2 at age 86. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Journalist who at the Sunday Times became the most admired newspaper editor of his generationSir Harold Evans, who has died aged 92, lived a life of two halves, almost two distinct lives. In his first life, he was the Manchester lad who grew up to be the most famous and most admired newspaper... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-09-24 11:55:45 UTC ]
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Irish children's author Sam McBratney, most widely known for the classic, bestselling picture book 'Guess How Much I Love You,' died on September 18; he was 77. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Liber20 awards from the Spanish publishers go to Basque Country booksellers, a graphic novel adapted to television, and a literary site. The post Spain’s Liber20 Prizes: Elkar Bookstores, Netflix’s ‘El Vecino,’ and ZendaLibros appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-18 19:08:35 UTC ]
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Dick Donahue, retired features editor at 'Publishers Weekly,' died on July 5 at his assisted living residence, the Beth Abraham Center in the Bronx. He was 79. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Peter Quandt, a former president and CEO of Macmillan Book Clubs and the K-III Education Group, has died of cancer in Chappaqua, N.Y. He was 71. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Felicity Bryan, founder of Felicity Bryan Associates and one of Britain’s most respected literary agents, died June 21 of cancer. She was 74. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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By bringing moral exactitude to a story long silenced for American profit, “A Silent Fury” joins that most vital of canons, the literatures of witness. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-06-18 06:26:49 UTC ]
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