In defence of Julian Assange

Julian Assange's publisher writes about his experience of working with the much-criticised WikiLeaks founderA great deal has been written recently about the frustrations of publishing a book with Julian Assange, mainly in a widely discussed, marathon article for the London Review of Books by Andrew O'Hagan. O'Hagan relates his experiences when working as a ghostwriter on an autobiography of the WikiLeaks leader that ended up being published in opposition to its subject's wishes. I'm the co-publisher of Assange's most recent book (Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet) and I, too, have found the experience frequently exasperating.Let me give an illustration. It's June of last year and I'm at a party in New York when a friendly, youngish man with a beard and a beer engages me in conversation. He tells me he is a journalist on one of the city's listings magazines and asks what I do for a job. I reply that I'm a publisher and he asks whose books I'm working on. I pick the one writer of whom I'm pretty certain he will have heard. "Well," I say, shouting to make myself heard above the music, "I've just published Julian Assange." The young man's demeanour changes abruptly and he fixes me with a sneer. "Assange," he echoes, "he's a bit of a cunt isn't he?"I've become wearily accustomed to this over my time working with Assange: the vituperation heaped on my author, the scorn directed at me for giving him a platform. I know the general script that will follow. And,... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Peter Carey refused to ghost Julian Assanges memoir

WikiLeaks founders ill-starred book was offered as a project to the novelist, who decided two control freaks should not collaborateThe two-time Booker-winning novelist Peter Carey turned down the opportunity to ghost the memoirs of his fellow Australian and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, he... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Julian Assange's ghost writer breaks silence on failed autobiography

WikiLeaks founder a mercurial character who could not bear his own secrets, according to writer Andrew O'HaganThe ghostwriter who collaborated with Julian Assange on his abortive 2011 autobiography has broken his silence to describe his months working with the WikiLeaks founder, which culminated... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anatomy of a non-scandal: the defence of Allison Pearson reveals how ‘free speech’ has been weaponised | Jane Martinson

The Telegraph journalist sent a deeply offensive and inaccurate tweet. Yet she has won the support of a swath of newspapers, an ex-PM – and Elon MuskThe Allison Pearson saga is nothing if not a morality tale about the modern media. Among its many learnings are that calling a group of people of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-11-20 08:50:32 UTC ]
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‘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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Boris Johnson recites Oompa-Loompas song in defence of Roald Dahl’s books

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[ The Guardian | 2023-03-02 19:18:38 UTC ]
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Lachlan Murdoch’s legal team loses bid to have parts of Crikey’s defamation defence dismissed

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[ The Guardian | 2022-10-21 03:20:47 UTC ]
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What’s in the public interest? Murdoch v Crikey trial could test new defamation defence

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[ The Guardian | 2022-10-10 08:03:32 UTC ]
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NASA is slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid on Monday to test planetary defence

On Monday, in what seems like a scene out of a science fiction movie, NASA will slam a spacecraft into a distant asteroid to see whether it can nudge its orbit — all in an effort to test a way to protect Earth from any potential future threats. ... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2022-09-24 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Christian Porter tries to prevent publication of unredacted ABC defamation defence

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[ The Guardian | 2021-08-18 05:52:27 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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Covid-19 is no defence for undermining copyright, IPA states

The International Publishers Association (IPA) has reaffirmed the importance of copyright law, stating the Covid-19 pandemic "does not make copyright protection less viable or infringement less unlawful." Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-27 10:06:18 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry by Julian Peters

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Brazil’s attack on Greenwald mirrors the US case against Assange

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[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-01-22 12:45:02 UTC ]
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Group commercial director Julian Shaw to leave Bonnier Books UK

Bonnier Books UK has announced that its group commercial director, Julian Shaw, is leaving the business to pursue new opportunities at the end of this month. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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4th Estate buys Temelkuran's 'urgent defence of democracy'

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Geoffrey Rush obtains orders suppressing News Corp’s 'scandalous' defamation defence

Daily Telegraph argues articles published about actor didn’t allege the actor ‘engaged in inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature’The Daily Telegraph has argued that articles about Geoffrey Rush published late last year “did not make any allegations” that the actor “engaged in inappropriate... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Julian Sayarer's Interstate named Travel Book of the Year

Julian Sayarer's book Interstate: Hitchhiking Through the State of a Nation (Arcadia) has been named Travel Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-04 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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Julian Barnes: opening up Man Booker to US authors is 'daft'

Julian Barnes has reignited the debate over the Man Booker Prize rule changes, calling the decision to allow American authors to compete "straightforwardly daft". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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