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 ]
More than half the Quercus staff have left the company following its buyout by Hodder &... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With blunt, expletive-drenched writing, the voice of 'Thug Kitchen' stands out in the world of healthy living and cooking websites. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week, we reviewed the HTC One for Windows, investigated Amazon's controversial ebook-pricing model, played around with Hyperlapse, learned about LG's G Watch R and more! Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last seven days. Oh, and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When not busy helping to find new treatments for cancer, IBM Watson is helping to cook up a few new dishes as well.To show off Watson’s powers, IBM is training its cognitive computing system to suggest new combinations of ingredients that could help cooks to create new, and sometimes quite... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Comics can wed different parts of a story together and really show things in ways prose can’t,” said Riva Hocherman, an editor at Metropolitan Books (an imprint of Holt), about "Verax," a forthcoming work of graphic nonfiction that tackles the history of the National Security Agency’s electronic... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There was a time when Barnes & Noble was so big, so dominating, that even Tom Hanks managed to look like a jerk when he played a book-chain executive. But times have changed, and as people began to order their books online -- or even download them --... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With Barnes and Noble reduced to borrowing Samsung tablets and Sony giving up altogether, only Kobo stands in the way of Amazon's total ebook domination. Now, the company is hoping to steal a march on its rival by introducing the first waterproof... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Continuing the trend of iconic comic books selling for house-in-the-Hamptons levels of cash, a nearly perfect copy of Action Comics No. 1 (aka the first appearance of Superman) sold for a record-breaking $3.2 million last night on eBay. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Perspectives will again publish full-color, tabloid-format print editions during the Frankfurt Book Fair. Got a story to tell? Let us know. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As the school year starts, get your bookshelf started with Hemingway, Bronte, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How is it professional book critics can pump out scores of reviews a year when many of us struggle just to read one book a week? They are told what to say. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook says that hundreds of online companies have adopted its plan to let mobile apps operate more like the world wide web, seamlessly linking together in much the same way that pages do inside your web browser. According to Facebook’s Vijay Shankar, these companies have published over 3... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Playboy has a new website that the publisher hopes you might even share with your mom on Facebook.Next Monday, the 60-year-old men's magazine will "officially" revamp its 20-year-old website to put a heightened focus on serving up grown-up entertainment that's not overly "adult." The new... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“Serious content restrictions” at Amazon’s fan fiction platform Kindle Worlds... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Ice Bucket Challenge, created to raise awareness of ALS, was taken by such book world figures as author Stephen King, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and author and indie bookstore supporter Stephen Colbert. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Baking experts fortunes on the rise thanks to BBC series, plus lucrative live tours and book deals Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The owners of the World's Only Curious George Store are opening a second picture-book concept store, the Make Way for Ducklings Store in Boston, Mass. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can a one-size-fits-all, low-price, consumer-dominated sales model support a diverse, innovative, challenging literary output?It is either an existential threat to intellectual freedom or a rustbelt media industry meeting its comeuppance at the hands of disruptive technology. The battle between... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Power of Now' author Eckhart Tolle has partnered with New World Library on the formation of a new imprint, Eckhart Tolle Editions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A carefully stocked selection of books—especially regional and local cookbooks—and ample foot traffic from tourists are key to the store's success, according to event coordinator Laney Blanchard. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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