In the age of Corbyn, is the time right for another Road to Wigan Pier?

It’s no surprise that the Left Book Club is being relaunched now, with the imprimatur of the Labour leader and Ken Livingstone. It began in the anxious 1930s, a decade that has all too many parallels with the current oneAiming to “set the agenda for a new age of political debate”, the Left Book Club was re-launched this week at a meeting at the Conway Hall in London. The Left Book Club last published a book in 1948. Jeremy Corbyn had yet to be born. Nevertheless the Labour leader has generously endorsed the revival as “a terrific and timely idea” that will give “intellectual ballast to the wave of political change sweeping Britain and beyond, encouraging informed and compassionate debate”. He added that he had a large collection of Left Book Club titles, some bought new by his parents and others that he acquired second hand. I speculate that the memory of these books in their plain red or orange covers – their flash upon his inward eye – must have provided Corbyn with a rare pleasurable moment in the past few weeks: the thought of them on his shelves having same kind of heart-filling effect that the daffodils had on Wordsworth.My own collection isn’t so large. In fact, it runs to just one book, Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier, and I didn’t inherit it. I bought it 20 or 30 years ago because I liked the idea of having such a fine book in its cheap and original form – seeing the words and photographs as its first readers must have seen them. Published in 1937, the year after... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Get 'Machine Learning for Cybersecurity Cookbook' ($31.99 value) FREE for a limited time

Organizations today face a major threat in terms of cybersecurity, from malicious URLs to credential reuse, and having robust security systems can make all the difference. With Machine Learning for Cybersecurity Cookbook you'll learn how to use Python libraries such as TensorFlow and... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2021-04-01 11:33:09 UTC ]
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Beverly Clearly, beloved creator of Ramona Quimby, has died at the age of 104.

Legend of children’s literature Beverly Cleary died on March 25th in Carmel, California, HarperCollins announced on Friday. She was 104. Since publishing Henry Huggins in 1950, when she was a librarian, Cleary has sold 85 million copies of her books, which have been translated into 29 different... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-27 13:47:12 UTC ]
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On and Off the Road with Bob Dylan

An indie author recalls 50 years of friendship with the voice of his generation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In ‘Red Island House,’ an American woman is enchanted, then repelled, by her time in Madagascar

Andrea Lee’s superb fiction often describes the collisions between people from different cultures. Her new novel widens the scope. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-23 13:00:00 UTC ]
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It is once again time to kill for future Texas governor Matthew McConaughey.

If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that Austin’s (Lincoln-drivin’, Wild Turkey-suppin’, Longhorns-boostin’, emergency-broadcastin’, naked bongo-playin’, UT professorin’) favorite son, Matthew David McConaughey, is actually a far busier man than his famously laid-back public persona... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-19 18:40:38 UTC ]
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Watch Viet Thanh Nguyen discuss 'The Committed' at the L.A. Times Book Club

Watch author Viet Thanh Nguyen talk about "The Committed" at the L.A. Times Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-11 00:19:23 UTC ]
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If writing’s got you down, remember that James Patterson’s first book was rejected 31 times.

Unless you’re a disgraced politician, trying to get a book published can be difficult, nerve-wracking, soul-denting work. If you’re anything like me, though, it really helps to hear that rejection is the rule in the publishing industry, rather than the exception. When my novel was out on... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-10 17:04:17 UTC ]
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Make Time For 15 of the Best Erotic Short Stories and Novellas

Short, fun erotic short stories that will leave you wanting more! Check out the best erotic short stories that you need to pick ASAP. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-03-05 11:35:00 UTC ]
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Tough times need indie spirit

When I left the publishing industry at the end of 2007, the first Kindle had gone on sale just a month earlier, Apple had not yet launched the iPad and few people in publishing knew what an app was. It was a very different world. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-05 11:09:47 UTC ]
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Isabel Wilkerson, Jacob Soboroff, Akwaeke Emezi among L.A. Times Book Prize finalists

The awards recognize outstanding literary achievements in 12 categories, including the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, with winners to be announced April 16. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-02 15:00:14 UTC ]
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“Justine” Is a Coming-of-Age Novel for the Tamogotchi Set

Perhaps it’s not surprising that even the prose in illustrator Forsyth Harmon’s debut novel Justine is deeply imagistic. Reading this short, powerful story feels like wandering through a museum exhibit about teenage girlhood on Long Island in the summer of 1999. Narrator Ali and her friends feed... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-03-02 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The time is right to cancel Dr. Seuss’s racist books

Anyone shocked by the cancellation of six Dr. Seuss books hasn’t been paying attention. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-02 06:26:28 UTC ]
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The Challenge of Writing Humor in Dark Times

Writing duo Whitney Phillips and Ryan M. Milner negotiate how funny writing should be in an unfunny time. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Two Roads to publish memoir from Billy Connolly

Two Roads will publish Billy Connolly's first autobiography, titled Windswept and Interesting. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-24 15:35:50 UTC ]
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Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and founder of City Lights bookshop, dies aged 101

Poet and countercultural pioneer put on trial for publishing Allen Ginsberg’s Howl went on to become a beloved icon of San FranciscoLawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet, publisher, painter and political activist who co-founded the famous City Lights bookshop in San Francisco and became an icon of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-02-23 19:42:46 UTC ]
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Two Roads to publish Hart's memoir on starting over

John Murray Press imprint Two Roads has acquired Devorgilla Days: A Memoir of Hope and Healing by Kathleen Hart, a "heart-warming and deeply moving" memoir about recovery, resilience and starting over. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-22 09:27:36 UTC ]
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A library staffer has been fired for burning Trump and Ann Coulter books in his free time.

Cameron Williams, a former staffer at Chattanooga Public Library and a local Black Lives Matter activist, has been fired from his library job three months after being accused of “improperly” burning books written by Donald Trump and Ann Coulter. In December, as the Chattanooga Times Free Press... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-17 17:26:28 UTC ]
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‘Remarkable Adaptability’: Children’s Publishing in the Time of Covid

With 2021 well underway, Publishers Weekly spoke with the heads of several children’s publishing divisions to see how the industry weathered the storm of last year, and to discuss what comes next in the midst of persistent uncertainty. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Time to detox

One issue that causes the most stress for many employees, including those in the publishing industry, is the dread of simply arriving at work. Far too many people know they will face a negative atmosphere the moment they walk (or rather Zoom) into their workspace. The job we are employed to do... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-09 15:02:23 UTC ]
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