Tasters of the reviews competing for the annual prize that recognises 'the angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review of the past 12 months'News: Hatchet Job of the Year award draws and quarters shortlistCraig Brown on Distant Intimacy: A Friendship in the Age of the Internet by Frederic Raphael and Joseph Epstein in the Daily Mail"A few years ago Raphael emailed Epstein with the suggestion that 'there might be some fun, not to mention $$$' in emailing each other for a year, then publishing the results. And so they get going, each of them dutifully delivering between 1,500 to 1,800 words a week, every week for a year. The first thing to be said about their exchanges is how extraordinarily unpleasant they are [...] Anyone unfamiliar with the literary world will, I think, be astonished at the ease with which these grand old men of letters turn into queeny old hairdressers, furiously bitching about their younger, prettier or more highly regarded rivals.Rachel Cooke on Strictly Ann: The Autobiography by Ann Widdecombe in the Observer"When Ann Widdecombe appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, the judges were not complimentary, describing her variously as "a dancing hippo", "a Dalek in drag" and "the Ark Royal". [...] Is Widdecombe's writing any better than her dancing? No. About the best you can say for her prose is that it is accurate. Her grammar is fine – Ann is a stickler for grammar – and her anecdotes make sense in that they have a beginning, a middle and an end.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With 'American Spy,' Steinhauer finishes what he started in 'The Tourist' and 'The Nearest Exit.' It's a thrilling, irresistible masterwork of love, guilt and revenge.On two separate occasions over the last nine years, Olen Steinhauer has brought a thriller series to a close. The first was the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pulitzer Prize winner A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A Knopf) is among the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WASHINGTON -- Former Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs and top executives at five major book publishers illegally conspired to raise the prices of ebooks, costing consumers tens of millions of dollars, federal and state officials alleged in antitrust suits filed Wednesday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Days after it told one publisher it had indefinitely suspended the programme to approve its Kindle newspaper edition submission, Amazon has suddenly relented. Last week, Scotland’s Herald & Times Group grumbled publicly that, after tw ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author goes from one extreme to another in this wonderfully absurdist short-story collection.Suddenly, a Knock On the Door Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An interracial couple navigates modern life in South African in 'No Time Like the Present,' by Nadine Gordimer.No Time Like the Present Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The necessity of self-improvement and social betterment is thoughtfully explored in Sam Harris' and Alain de Botton's books.Free Will Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author's exuberant use of words in private is as vivid as in public.The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A mob wife fleeing her past — and a dirty U.S. marshal — gets a little help from a mysterious stranger in Epperson's modern noir tale of revenge and greed.If I were a damsel in distress fleeing a past and people who wanted me dead, like Gina Cicala in the modern noir thriller "Sailor" by Tom... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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and Matthew Flamm - The magazine industry saw slightly fewer launches in the first quarter of 2012, compared to a year ago, but—on the positive side—there were many fewer closures, according to a survey released Monday by MediaFinder, the online database of U.S. and Canadian publications. Not... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anne Tyler's latest novel, 'The Beginner's Goodbye,' is a classic mix of the author's themes, most especially oddball characters and the turbulent nature of families and marriages.When you pick up a novel by Anne Tyler, you can expect certain things. It will be set in Baltimore. It will follow... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To coincide with its one-year anniversary on April 18, the Los Angeles Review of Books is re-launching its website in a multimedia platform that will include video, drop-down menus, and new feature articles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A coming-of-age story by former Angels pitcher Abbott is at its best when describing his influence as a role model off the field.Imperfect Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In this spooky, atmospheric debut novel, readers enter a sterile, off-kilter world of horror — sort of — that is more David Lynch than Stephen King.Threats Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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These delightful biographies of 294 authors begin with John Bunyan in the 17th century and ends with Rana Dasgupta, born in 1971.My assignment: Read almost 300 literary biographies in more than 800 pages, all of English-language authors, beginning in the 17th century and ending in the present... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team' makes it personal.A couple of years ago, for Father's Day, my family bought me the interactive video game MLB 2K9 for the Wii. The great thing about the game, and also its enduring frustration, is its verisimilitude —... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins UK and International recorded its highest turnover and best margin for three years... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A look at AT&T's Bell Labs documents what in its heyday was truly a marvelous innovation machine and focuses on a handful of compelling narratives.For generations of industry research executives, AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories served as an inspiration: a warren of youthful scientists... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lionel Shriver deftly handles terrorism, politics and satire in 'The New Republic.'It takes guts to write a satire about terrorism — and Lionel Shriver has guts. She has already published biting novels about the failings of the U.S. healthcare system ("So Much for That") and a school shooter... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thane Rosenbaum skillfully mixes fantasy and tragedy in 'The Stranger Within Sarah Stein,' whose heroine weathers her parents' divorce with pluck and defiance.Young adult novelists are increasingly tackling darker subjects: kidnappings, drugs, rape. But few have delved into so many dark subjects... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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