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 ]
News tagged with:
#paul theroux
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 24/08/2011 - 14:46 Private Eye is marking its 50th anniversary by publishing a book looking back at the history of the satirical institution. Private Eye: The First 50 Years is written by Adam Macqueen, a journalist on the magazine since 1997. It... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#anniversary book
#private eye
#adam macqueen
#20th september
Started in 1883 as Inland Printer, Penton Media's American Printer magazine will be stopping production after 128 years. The August 2011 edition has been the last title published. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#penton media
#title published
As Don Henley told the New York Times, what's at stake is "fairness" and "parity." The Eagles lead singer, who also heads a group called the Recording Artists Coalition, was referring to a revision to copyright law, made in the 1970s, that could drastically affect the ownership of some of the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#group called
#copyright law
#classic rock
Once identified as the most notable magazine launch of the year in 2009, Hearst's Food Network magazine is continuing to ride a wave of reader enthusiasm with the announcement of its sixth rate base increase since the title went live. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sixth time
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 12:15 A Dartmouth bookshop opened by the son of Winnie-the-Pooh author A A Milne is closing down after 60 years. The Harbour Bookshop on Fairfax Place was opened in 1951 by Christopher Robin Milne, the inspiration for the character... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#harbour bookshop
#caroline abram
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 11/08/2011 - 15:31 HarperCollins has had its best financial year since 2008, with ebook sales accounting for 10% of total revenue during the past four weeks, its c.e.o. has said. Victoria Barnsley was speaking as parent company NewsCorp reported... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#financial year
#total revenue
#victoria barnsley
#media conglomerate
Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of the Washington Post, sent a memo to his staff announcing, among other changes, that the book reviewers will now be report to the editors of the their respective sections. Brauchli told PW that these moves will not affect the paper's coverage of books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book reviewers
When you deal with a lot of people, along with the brilliant stuff comes very dumb stuff as well. Inexperienced voices should be forgiven but when the big and powerful make appalling statements you have to ask yourself how they ever got their jobs.Here are some of the ones that have left me most... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 04/08/2011 - 09:12 The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society has welcomed the government support for the Hargreaves Review into intellectual property and growth, though it expressed concern over the proposals to extend copyright... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#government support
#hargreaves review
#intellectual property
#expressed concern
Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Thu, 04/08/2011 - 15:50 Spending on physical books in July slumped to its lowest level in seven years as ebooks continue to encroach onto traditional bookseller territory. According to Nielsen BookScan data, £111.5m was spent on printed books in the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#year low
#physical books
#lowest level
#ebooks continue
#printed books
#volume sales
#four-week period
#6m year-on-year
Creative consultant JC Suares shares some of the biggest headscratchers he's heard from editors, publishers and designers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ve heard
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 29/07/2011 - 15:25 Bath-based independent Palazzo is to publish illustrated editions of Jane Austen's novels to mark the bicentenary of their original publication. The Bath Bicentenary Editions will launch with Sense and Sensibility, first... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#jane austen
#original publication
#28th september
#folio society
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 17:11 Telegraph Media Group has been ordered to pay £65,000 in damages after losing a high court case for libel and malicious falsehood over a Lynn Barber book review published in the Telegraph. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pay damages
#book review
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 16:29 The High Court has rejected an application by an Isle of Wight resident to bring a judicial review claim over the island's library closures. At a hearing in London today [26th July], His Honour Judge Pearl said the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#high court
#library closures
Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 21:09 Lee Child has been awarded the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for his Jack Reacher thriller 61 Hours (Transworld), beating authors including Mark Billingham who has won the prize twice before. It is the first time Child has won the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#peculier crime
#opening night
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 09:18 Brent council's plan to close six of its 12 libraries was made "with great care and expressed attention to the 1964 Act" and other relevant legislation, the High Court heard yesterday (20th July). The council had faced... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#opening day
#great care
#judicial review
Possibly the most famous book review, ever, was written by the young Irish wit and polemicist John Wilson Croker. Croker is still remembered, though obscurely, as a founder of modern political conservatism. What's more, according to some sources, John Wilson Croker invented the very term... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book reviewing
Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 14:20 French cultural product chain Fnac has announced a new five-year strategic plan to help lift flagging sales as consumer habits change and competition from the internet erodes traditional markets. Called Fnac 2015, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 09:10 Brent council failed to comply with its legal obligations under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act when planning the closure of six of its libraries, the High Court was told on the first day of the judicial review... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#full range
#museums act
#high court
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/07/2011 - 15:47 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#judicial review