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 ]
In a continuum of an acquisition series that has become Bonniers growth strategy, the publisher acquires Hearsts Cycle World. Terms of the deal remain undisclosed. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Low price, Amazon Silk browser and promising ecosystem of movies, apps and books make the Fire stand out in a crowd. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 08:45 Zadie Smith, Jeanette Winterson, Blake Morrison and Mark Haddon are among the big names contributing to a Vintage essay collection described as a "mission statement about the paramount importance of reading to our quality of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 11:59 Broadcaster and author Melvyn Bragg is to join the judging panel for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award for a second year in a row. Bragg will be joined by actor Ian Hart, playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi, novelist Joanna Trollope... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 23/09/2011 - 10:45 Canongate has bought a collection of stories by a US marine and veteran of the Iraq war. Senior editor Francis Bickmore pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights to the untitled collection by Phil Klay through by Cathryn... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:05 The number of Americans using an ebook reader has almost doubled during the last 12 months, according to a new survery. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 19/09/2011 - 09:39 A primary schools project that has helped thousands of struggling young pupils to read is being axed by the government, according to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). The Reading Recovery Project involves... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 15:15 Virgin Books has acquired a title by craft journalist Perri Lewis, which will enlist the worlds top makers to explore different crafts from dressmaking to decoupage. World rights to Material World: Inspiration and Secrets from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 14/09/2011 - 08:55 Authors including Neil Gaiman and Ian Rankin will collaborate with the public in a short story "Tweetathon" organised by the Society of Authors. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Mon, 12/09/2011 - 08:45 Stories from Jon McGregor and M J Hyland have been shortlisted for the sixth BBC National Short Story Award, announced on Friday evening (9th September) on BBC Radio 4's "Front Row". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 19:30 Stories from Jon McGregor and M J Hyland have been shortlisted for the sixth BBC National Short Story Award, announced this evening (9th September) on BBC Radios Front Row. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 05/09/2011 - 08:10 People in Huntingdon and Cambridge buy the most books of any town or city in the UK, according to a list compiled by Amazon from its print and Kindle sales since the start of the year. Towns in Kent, Wiltshire and West Sussex... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 01/09/2011 - 08:54 Bloomsbury has acquired independent food list Absolute Press, set up by publisher Jon Croft in 1979. Absolute Press specialises in high-end cookery titles, publishing Keith Floyd's first title in 1981. Its titles include... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 31/08/2011 - 14:45 The Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scottish indie Cargo and US publisher McSweeney's are to team up on a four-volume collection of stories from authors including Roddy Doyle and Ali Smith. Fifty authors are to take part... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Tye, CEO at Dennis Publishing, warns against assuming all your readers want the same, and reveals how the company is monetising its digital products. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 26/08/2011 - 08:48 Penguin is reissuing its collections of short stories for adults by renowned children's author Roald Dahl. The rejacketed paperback versions, priced £8.99, will be reissued in four batches, beginning with Someone Like... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 25/08/2011 - 07:00 The Orwell Prize is to blog George Orwells hop-picking diary entries, which went on to form part of his novel A Clergymans Daughter. Starting today, the political writing award will post a daily blog 80 years to the day that... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 09:21 American crime writer Karin Slaughter has written a digital-only short story exclusive to Amazon, with all the proceeds going to benefit libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:18 One in six children do not read a single book per month, according to a new survey by the National Literacy Trust. The research suggested the United Kingdom is polarised between those who do not read and the one in 10 children... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 12:03 World Book Day has appointed Kirsten Grant as director, with Cathy Schofield stepping down from her position as co-ordinator which she has held since October 2000. Grant, who was previously Puffin marketing and campaigns... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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