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 ]
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 08:23 Ebury has acquired a memoir written by Shane Spall, wife of actor Timothy Spall, describing their journeys on their boat The Princess Matilda, and his battle with acute leukaemia. Publisher Jake Lingwood bought UK,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Yale University Press will be nosing around authors' bookshelves with the publication of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booked Up, the government-funded programme that gives a free book to Year 7 pupils, has found... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 08:30 Waterstone's is set to publish a print and ebook anthology to celebrate the shortlist for the 2012 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award. The high street bookseller will publish the titles on 4th March next year, and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 08:10 Author Nick Hornby wants to establish a national network of story centres for children, following a successful first year for the Ministry of Stories in Hoxton, London, which Hornby co-founded with Lucy Macnab and Ben Payne.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 10:36 Pan Macmillan has acquired a collection of short stories from bestselling crime and thriller writer Peter James, with publishing director Wayne Brookes buying UK and Commonwealth rights through agent Carole Blake at Blake... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 25/10/2011 - 15:30 A new internet bookselling site has launched specialising in travel literature. The Culture Trip is selling four million books and films, organised into categories by countries. The company is also planning to launch a music... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new social reading app called Subtext today launches on the iPad with a selection of books laden with annotations from authors and researchers. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 08:05 The Government emphasis on reading for pleasure could be behind an uplift in sales to school libraries, claims bookseller Marilyn Brocklehurst of the Norfolk Children's Book Centre. She said: "The pronouncements by the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In his closing remarks, Frankfurt Book Fair director Juergen Boos said that 2011 was a strong year for startups at the fair. Among those startups, perhaps none had a better reception than Small Demons, in Los Angeles. We couldnt have asked for a better first Frankfurt Book Fair, Small Demons... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Business-to-business media company WTWH Media, LLC isnt afraid of the uncertainty surrounding the magazine market placethe company is launching a new title this month called Solar Power World magazine in an effort to expand its portfolio. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the digital sector, some publishers are still waiting for online advertising to become as profitable as its print counterpart once was. Many complain digital ad offerings are not comparable to the quality in print; others say the infrequency and size of advertising units may be causing the... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Releasing a book on one of the worlds largest publishing marketplaces could help your company. Here's a quick guide to the basics of self-publishing. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 08:49 Picador has bought a debut novel by Royal Holloway creative writing MA graduate Emma Chapman, with editorial director Francesca Main making her first acquisition for the imprint. Main bought UK and Commonwealth rights,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Does Amazon's recent introduction of its Kindle Fire tablet, and CEO Jeff Bezos's description of it as "an end-to-end service," suggest that publishers no longer will have a role in the time-honored process of getting a book to market? Continue reading at Knowledge@Wharton
[ Knowledge@Wharton | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 14:25 Literary agent Geraldine Cooke is calling on members of the book trade with links to Brent to join demonstrators in their vigils outside the north London borough's closed libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 14:25 Literary agent Geraldine Cook is calling on members of the book trade with links to Brent to join demonstrators in their vigils outside the north London borough's closed libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 08:25 Alan Hollinghurst, whose novel The Stranger's Child was a surprise omission from the Man Booker shortlist this year, has been shortlisted for an award at the Galaxy National Book Awards 2011, with works by Ian Rankin and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What better place to be the day after Amazon unveiled its $199 Kindle Fire tablet (plus three Kindle models starting at $79) than a conference on e-readers? Long scheduled for September 29 and 30 in San Francisco, Intertechs two-day eReaders 2011 conference offered an even better platform than... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 1999 San Francisco authors/journalists Jane Ganahl and Jack Boulware mused over drinks about getting together a bunch of authors for a big reading. They tapped Phil Bronstein, the editor of the San Francisco Examiner, to foot the $300 bill for 25 authors to read in Golden Gate Park for what... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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