‘I didn’t think it was possible to be a novelist’: Julian Barnes on literature, loss – and his late friend Martin Amis

The Booker winning author talks about how his most recent work was inspired by Hilary Mantel, and the way the books world has changed since his debut was published more than 40 years agoToo many people have been dying lately,” Julian Barnes reflects over the phone from his home in north London. He has muted the Test match, he tells me, so he won’t be tempted to shout at the screen. This is a follow-up conversation to a meeting earlier this year to discuss his latest novel, Elizabeth Finch, in which, although unnamed in the book, Hilary Mantel, who died aged 70 last September, played a key part. Barnes’s great friend Carmen Callil, founder of Virago Press, died a month later. “I did adore her,” he says now. And, since we last spoke, Martin Amis has also died, in May.“I knew he didn’t want me to ask him how he was,” Barnes says of his final communications with Amis, who moved to New York in 2011. “So we had a kind of football email exchange: ‘What do you think of Arsenal this season?’ and so on. At the end, I got an email saying, in effect, ‘Look after yourself, old friend.’ I took that as it was intended, which was ‘Goodbye.’” Barnes didn’t email him again. “He did it stylishly, as you would expect,” he says. “Stylishly and privately.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-16 08:00:25 UTC ]
News tagged with: #julian barnes #martin amis #recent work #hilary mantel #books world #north london #key part

Other Publishing stories related to: '‘I didn’t think it was possible to be a novelist’: Julian Barnes on literature, loss – and his late friend Martin Amis'


‘I didn’t think it was possible to be a novelist’: Julian Barnes on literature, loss – and his late friend Martin Amis

The Booker winning author talks about how his most recent work was inspired by Hilary Mantel, and the way the books world has changed since his debut was published more than 40 years agoToo many people have been dying lately,” Julian Barnes reflects over the phone from his home in north London.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-16 08:00:25 UTC ]
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William Boyd on his friend Martin Amis: ‘He was ferociously intelligent – and very funny’

He saw the world’s cruel absurdities through a comic lens, writes Boyd, who recalls his very first meeting with Amis – and explains why his unmistakable voice will never be forgotten• John Self on Amis: ‘He stamped his style over a generation’• Geoff Dyer on Amis: ‘Mick Jagger in literary... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 07:00:49 UTC ]
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Martin Amis, acclaimed British novelist and London scenester of '80s and '90s, dies at 73

Martin Amis, best known for a scathing, dazzling trilogy of novels on money-saturated '80s London and the memoir "Experience," died Friday at 73. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-20 20:05:38 UTC ]
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Martin Amis, era-defining British novelist, dies aged 73

The celebrated author of Money and London Fields, whose works defined the 80s and 90s literary scene, died of oesophageal cancer on Friday at his home in FloridaMartin Amis, the influential author of era-defining novels including Money and London Fields, and the memoir Experience, has died at... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 18:53:35 UTC ]
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A chapter ends as a Barnes & Noble heiress takes a loss on her Chelsea penthouse

The story of the sale of a bookstore heiress’s penthouse seems to have ended on a bittersweet note.Stephanie Riggio Bulger, whose father, Len Riggio, is the former chairman of the Barnes & Noble retail chain, has finally found a taker for her four-bedroom duplex condo in Chelsea after two... Continue reading at Crains New York

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Barnes & Noble Education Cuts Loss on Small Sales Gain

Barnes & Noble Education has released preliminary financial results that showed company revenue rising 1.5% in the fiscal year ended April 27, 2024, and net loss falling to $63 million, from $90 million a year ago. Total sales were $1.57 billion. B&NE expects to receive final approval... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Complicated Experience of Reading a Late Friend’s Novel

In October, I received an email from an editor at Toronto-based Coach House Books. It was a simple request for me to provide a blurb for the book jacket of the latest book by R.M. Vaughan, the brilliantly titled Pervatory. Except there wasn’t anything simple about it: Vaughan, who I referred to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-20 09:49:37 UTC ]
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Former 'Friends' writer says the stars were unhappy and purposely tanked jokes they didn't like

A former "Friends" writer's new memoir details her experience on the show at a time when the stars seemed unhappy, and the writers room wasn't so friendly. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-25 01:20:03 UTC ]
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‘Damn, that fool can write’: how Martin Amis made everyone up their game

He exploded into the tweedy world of literature, a young, pouting and outrageously brash crusader for prose. Our writer remembers her encounters with the novelist, whose smarts and chutzpah confounded his peers‘You’ll be reading me every now and then at least until about 2080, weather... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 05:00:48 UTC ]
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The book world needs practical dreamers. Enter publisher-novelist Martin Riker

Micro-publisher Martin Riker has just published a novel of his own, 'The Guest Lecture,' that proves fiction can be experimental and rigorous at once. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-01-26 14:00:20 UTC ]
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Robert Goolrick Dies at 73; Became a Successful Novelist Late in Life

Being fired as an advertising executive freed him to write a blistering memoir about his Southern family and an erotic novel that became a best seller. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-05-21 00:03:50 UTC ]
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Historical Novelists and Fantasy Writers Should Be Friends

Author Christopher M. Cevasco says there's a surprising lack of crossover between the two. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2022-04-29 16:00:00 UTC ]
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Israel’s Jerusalem Prize Goes to England’s Julian Barnes

In music and commentary, the Jerusalem International Book Forum has opened its interim online program, Barnes to speak in Israel next year. The post Israel’s Jerusalem Prize Goes to England’s Julian Barnes appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-05-03 17:20:10 UTC ]
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Cape to publish Martin Amis autobiographical novel

Jonathan Cape will publish an autobiographical novel by Martin Amis later this year, with the book described as his "most intimate and epic work to date".  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-14 00:11:42 UTC ]
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Row as Barnes Children's Literature Festival chooses Waterstones as official bookseller

An indie bookshop which was the official bookseller of the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival has been replaced by organisers in favour of Waterstones. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 03:02:58 UTC ]
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Russell Martin's return might help Austin Barnes as much as the Dodgers

Rich Hill wasn’t the only veteran member of the Dodgers battery to return from the injured list Sunday. Catcher Russell Martin made his first start since being sidelined April 10 because of lower-back inflammation, an addition that will reduce fellow catcher Austin Barnes’ playing time but should... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Where now for Mark Zuckerberg after his – and our – loss of innocence? | Martin Moore

A year on from the Observer exposé, what has really changed for Facebook and its users?The Cambridge Analytica revelations, the most damning of which were published by the Observer and the New York Times a year ago, quickly morphed from a scandal about a British political consultancy into one... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Late-Night TV Hosts Give Publicity-Starved Novelists the Star Treatment

TV coverage of literary fiction has dwindled, but Trevor Noah and Seth Meyers are exceptions. “Who would have guessed that a 700-page novel would be on national TV?” one publishing executive said. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2018-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Martin Amis to pen novel about Larkin, Bellow and Hitchens

Martin Amis is writing an autobiographical novel about three fellow writers - poet and writer Philip Larkin, Nobel Prize winning novelist Saul Bellow and essayist and literary critic Christopher Hitchens - all of whom have died since he started writing the book. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors join Julian Barnes in condemning US authors' admission to Booker prize

Writers including AS Byatt and Philip Hensher say Commonwealth and British writers face greater struggle to find readers, now ‘dice are loaded’ AS Byatt, Philip Hensher and Susan Hill have joined authors backing Julian Barnes’s call for the Man Booker prize to exclude US writers once again, a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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