Essay Photos by Mai Al-Nakib / Courtesy of the author Civilizations, empires, dynasties, and monarchies end, leaving behind ruins of their fabled splendor. Traces of achievements become more or less decipherable, contingent upon the mercy of elements and vagaries of time. Global ascents have been awesome. The point, however, is that no matter how accomplished or established the power, no matter how seemingly eternal, its passing is guaranteed. In the shadow of World War II, Walter Benjamin described the angel of history with his face turned toward the past: “Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage.” Unlike most of us, the angel of history takes the long view. He bears witness to the rising debris, which periodically may initiate a state of emergency, such as genocide or war. Whether this state of emergency brings about radical transformation or more of the same cannot be determined in advance. A cursory archaeology of our planetary ruins reveals the latter to be the case more frequently. Any citizen of a failing nation-state adopting the angel of history’s long view must ask herself a series of sobering questions. Given its recent past, the parameters of its present, and the constitution of its population and leadership, how likely is it that the kind of sweeping change a country needs in order to survive will occur? Have the sacrifices of the many over... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2021-07-07 12:48:10 UTC ]
A memoir from a Twitter celebrity doesn’t name names, but it does provide an entertaining back story. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-07-07 09:00:09 UTC ]
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It has been a TV film, a play and now the chef's memoir has been adapted to help a local theatre. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2020-07-06 23:02:05 UTC ]
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Crawford’s memoir looks back at her own assault at a prestigious boarding school. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-05 08:02:09 UTC ]
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“Surely some revelation is at hand.” ¤ A MEMOIR BY the journalist and sportswriter Simon Kuper appeared in the Financial Times in late July last year. It was about Kuper’s time at Oxford from the late 1980s onward, when he overlapped with Boris Johnson and Rory Stewart at Balliol College. Young... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-07-02 13:00:48 UTC ]
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Michael Dirda is taking a vacation next month, and he’s already getting his to-be-read pile in order. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-01 16:17:23 UTC ]
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“Becoming Duchess Goldblatt” is a memoir by the writer behind a beloved fictional character whose fans include Lyle Lovett and Celeste Ng. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-07-01 14:20:37 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster is to publish the memoir of renowned actor Sir Patrick Stewart. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-01 10:22:58 UTC ]
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A New York state judge has temporarily blocked Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster from "publishing, printing or distributing" her memoir Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's most Dangerous Man. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-30 20:33:21 UTC ]
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Rock star Lenny Kravitz has written Let Love Rule, a memoir covering the first 25 years of his life, to be published by Sphere in the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-30 18:47:37 UTC ]
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The 80-year-old Sci-Fi icon's book will cover everything from "Star Trek" to his work on "American Dad." Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2020-06-30 18:18:47 UTC ]
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The Trump family has filed a new lawsuit in the US to block the publication of Mary Trump's forthcoming exposé. It comes after Queen's County Surrogate Court dismissed the first motion on 23rd June. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-29 21:41:26 UTC ]
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Robert Trump takes his bid to stop publication of Mary Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough to the New York supreme courtDonald Trump’s brother is making a second attempt to block publication of the much-anticipated book by their niece Mary Trump, about “the damaged man who currently occupies the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-29 11:28:44 UTC ]
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NEAL POLLACK, known to his fans as “The Greatest Living American Writer,” has had many incarnations in his literary life, from novelist to mystery writer to prolific memoirist. First, in his 2008 memoir Alternadad, Pollack reflects on his recent fatherhood and its incompatibility with his grumpy... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-06-28 15:00:57 UTC ]
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HQ has acquired a memoir by the co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party Catherine Mayer and her mother Anne Mayer Bird, written after they were both widowed within weeks of each other just before the Covid-19 lockdown. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-28 14:16:03 UTC ]
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“I’m done with shame,” says Lacy Crawford, the author of the memoir “Notes on a Silencing.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-06-27 09:00:22 UTC ]
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President Donald Trump had little interest in the fine-grained details of charges Meng Wanzhou faces for allegedly skirting U.S. sanctions and viewed the case with far-ranging international implications in transactional terms, John Bolton told... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-06-26 16:55:49 UTC ]
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A “marginalized people’s history of labor in the U.S.” goes to One Signal for six figures, HarperCollins takes on a book about Prince Harry and Prince William, Willie Nelson and his sister sell a memoir to Random House, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Trump family is reportedly seeking a court order to block the president's niece, Mary L Trump, and Simon & Schuster from publishing memoir Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-25 12:16:46 UTC ]
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The dismissal is certainly not the end of the road, however, as Trump family attorneys are likely re-file their motion for a restraining order in a proper venue. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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His new memoir “Lot Six” traces the Syrian-Jewish enclave that spawned him, the instructor who unnerved him, and the biting comedy that made his name. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-06-24 17:09:30 UTC ]
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