Last week, Ruth Rendell claimed that reading novels is a dying art. Sadly, she might have a pointNo one can say precisely why John Williams's novel Stoner has become a bestseller almost 50 years after its first publication. After all, plenty of books, "forgotten" or otherwise, are recommended by word of mouth and yet most will not go on to sell more than a few hundred copies. And it's hard to know in what ways, if any, its story – a young man falls in love with literature and thus a new world is revealed to him – might have touched people. Many of those who rushed to buy it will not yet have got around to opening it and some will never read it. Stoner will languish on their shelves, its spine unbroken, just like Jung Chang's Wild Swans, the non-fiction hit of 1992.But still, it has given us something to think about, this dusting down of so plangent and substantial a novel. On Radio 4 last week, Ruth Rendell, the novelist and Labour peer, suggested that Stoner is a book for our times, her argument being that we live in an age when reading is for most an alien pastime, just as it is to William Stoner until he has an epiphany. (Asked to elucidate a poem by a professor, he is unable to say anything except: "It means... it means..." and yet, in this moment, everything changes; the verse, whether he understands it or not, has touched him on some powerfully deep level.) "We are told that it isn't happening," said Rendell. "But it is. Reading is no longer something that everybody... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
Rights to Jessica Fellowes’ debut novel The Mitford Murders (Sphere), the first in a new series of the same name, have sold in four pre-empts across Europe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A sinister world rises from the soothing, if mischievous, voice of Adam Curtis: politicians and financiers have created alternate realities that prey on our fears while Facebook and other cyberspace distractions toy with our vanities with promises of escape and virtual redemption. At a time when... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus has signed Not That Kind of Love by actor Greg Wise and his late sister Clare. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Head of Zeus has acquired world English-language rights to Polish author Jacek Dukaj’s prize-winning Ice. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a month of voting, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s acclaimed novel was picked as the winner in the One Book, One New York program. The program promotes the reading of a single work by residents in all five boroughs of the city. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Folio Prize Foundation, in tandem with its sponsor Rathbone Investment Management, is to launch a mentorships programme for students at literacy charity First Story, with the Folio academicians acting as writing mentors. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With no single title emerging as the big book of the fair, and gossip still focused on recent reports about the $65 million advance the Obamas landed from Penguin Random House, a number of novels have been the subject of chatter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers across Europe have pre-empted translation rights to The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris from Bonnier Zafffre, which has world rights. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If the words "multimedia tie-in" bring back memories of bad video game adaptations and lame comic books pushed by marketing groups to promote feature films, then clearly the 80s and 90s have scarred you too. Cartoon Network's upcoming animated series... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2017-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I.B.Tauris has signed a new book by Northern Irish writer, adventurer and film-maker, Leon McCarron. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Following the latest executive order on immigration issued by President Donald J. Trump, a growing list of authors have committed to participating in #Read4Refugees, a read-in dedicated to raising awareness of, and funding to combat, refugee issues. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Citing 'education and research for everyone and by everyone,' Cambridge University Press' leadership offers pertinent readings for International Women's Day. The post International Women’s Day: Free Readings From Cambridge University Press appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waylon Jennings’s wife Jessi Colter, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Rory Feek are some of the singers sharing their life stories in titles publishing this season. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SIPs and one-shots are choking off sales of regular-frequency magazines, argues one analyst. The post A Bleaker-than-Reported Newsstand Story appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2017-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The nonfiction bestseller, which came out last month in China and currently has over 500,000 copies in print, charts the rise of the country's biggest Internet company, app maker Tencent. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fiona Kennedy, publisher of Head of Zeus's new children's imprint Zephyr, has made her first acquisitions, buying a standalone novel by Lauren St John and two books from Ghanaian-British filmmaker Yaba Badoe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Everything President Trump has tweeted (and what it was about) March 3, 2017, 12:16 p.m. His tweets have the power to shape international relations, send stock prices up - or down - and galvanize the American public. We're watching how Donald Trump is using this platform of unfettered... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Knight, author of the linked story collection 'Eveningland,' picks 10 interlinked story collections, including 'Olive Kitteridge' and 'A Visit from the Goon Squad.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fabled children's book author Dr. Seuss once said that his experience working at Standard Oil 'taught me conciseness and how to marry pictures with words.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The winner of the World Book Day Award has been revealed as an East Yorkshire school after it faced three years of “struggling” to expand its books offering from "one meagre bookshelf" into a library. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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