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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An MP has joined the Bookseller Association's calls for the government to respond to the Mary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy has won the Costa Poetry Award for The Bees (Picador), and debut... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#costa book
Booksellers are discounting books and ebooks by up to 80% in post-Christmas promotions. Amazon... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three stores in PW’s informal coast-to-coast survey of bookstores—Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass.; Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa; and Skylight Books in Los Angeles—called this their best holiday season ever. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#strong finish
#tough year
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Journalist Caitlin Moran's take on modern feminism How to Be A Woman, published by Ebury, has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#modern feminism
The Friday Project's Confessions of a GP has been crowned the top-selling UK ebook of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles has reported a third year of profitable trading, despite "deep concern" about... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Since its launch last December in partnership with the American Booksellers Association, Google eBooks has yet to capture significant market share. According to the Codex Groups recent Showrooming study, while the number of people who read both print books and ebooks has grown from 25% in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Readers Digest Association has eliminated 150 positions across all of its business groups worldwide, with half the cuts affecting jobs in the U.S. and the other half international. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A few days after Amazon announced that the Steve Jobs biography was its top-selling book of 2011 (combined print and ebook sales), the book debuted on bestseller charts around the world, including the three countries highlighted this month. Steve Jobs was #3 in France and the Netherlands, and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Booksellers Association has welcomed Mary Portas report into the future of the high... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Irish chain bookseller Eason looks likely to escape sizeable store closures following the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#job losses
Four titles that bring "the natural world to life for 5-11 year-olds" are represented... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has readied a slew of publishing to tie into the latest movie from the team behind... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It was a chance chauffeur job, shuttling a bored author back to his hotel room, that got Dan Halpern into publishing. The author was Paul Bowles, it was the late 1960s, and Halpern agreed to take the writer on the long drive back to Santa Monica when Bowles tired of the party hed been thrown at... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Doncaster campaigners are considering applying for judicial review over library closures,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Talks between Eason and Irish workers union Siptu on job cuts will reconvene on Friday (25th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The British newspaper publisher says the pioneering Web site is "is a high-quality asset but our focus in the US is on building the Guardian." Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two mystery book experts go head-to-head on the topic of male and female writers and characters in the genre. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 17/11/2011 - 09:30 Children's laureate Julia Donaldson has welcomed yesterday's High Court ruling against library closures in Gloucestershire and Somerset as "the best news Ive had all year". In a statement given to Somerset group Watchet... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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