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 ]
On Wednesday, Sam Kean published one of Slate’s most popular stories of 2014, “Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient.” The piece extends from Sam’s work on his latest book, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma,... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Parthian Books, Faber and Jonathan Cape all have English-language titles in the shortlist for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Dan Kois asked me to review David Kinney’s fascinating book The Dylanologists: Adventures in the Land of Bob for the Slate Book Review, I took a look at the Dylan section of my bookshelves and wondered how different I was from the Bob obsessives Kinney profiles. Over the years I have... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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People who create content need to be protected, Harriet Harman told The Publishers Association... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Night U.S., an ambitious nonprofit campaign to promote reading throughout the country, is reporting stronger-than-ever media attention for its just-finished April 2014 push. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribner, which publishes the iconic cookbook "The Joy of Cooking," has gone digital with the title. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Israel meets the Amazon (or Amazon.com, anyway) in Kinetic Art's new 'Look & Cook' app. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How a rooftop ritual turned into a “men’s grilling and lifestyle community” with chapters around the world and a brand new book, "ManBQue!: Meat. Beer. Rock and Roll." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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English PEN in partnership with Foyles has launched a new website which celebrates contemporary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German publisher Bastei Lubbe is the latest overseas publisher to use digital distribution to enter the U.S. market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This past year I served on the selection committee for the American Library Association’s Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction & Nonfiction—a task I undertook with a good amount of dread. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a recent Simpsons episode, a Japanese tourist moves in with Comic Book Guy, infuriating her father, who exclaims: “Daughter, you are coming back to Japan; there are 87 old people who need you to take care of them!” Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing industry figures have dismissed claims by children's authors that too many female... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Corvus has acquired two novels, including a “sweeping historical fiction”. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House's food blog and online cooking community, TasteBook, has added a new bookstore called The BookShop. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s purchase of John Wiley’s cookbook and reference lines in November 2012 gave a big boost to overall sales at the HMH trade publishing group, but it’s not the only New England publisher with sales that are cooking. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Subscription ebook service Oyster is teaming with Spritz, the speed-reading venture, to offer Stephen Covey’s self-help bestseller, "The 7 Habits of High Effective People," for free in the Spritz format. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 'The Family Cooks,' author/activist Laurie David’s second cookbook, the importance of the family table and home cooking are at the heart of her philosophy for raising the next generation of healthy eaters. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Total Boox, an unusual ebook delivery service based on metered reading, is making its library of 20,000 ebook titles available to the public to read entirely for free during the week of April 13 to April 20. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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