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 ]
News tagged with: #original form

Other news stories related to: "In the age of Corbyn, is the time right for another Road to Wigan Pier?"


Cross-industry partnerships 'the future' after Love Charing Cross Road success

Foyles and Blackwell bookshops have reported sales and footfall increases following their... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #reported sales


Flipboard Rival: New York Times Deal is Good News for the Media Industry

Publishing giants The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal firmed up exclusive deals with Flipboard and Pulse earlier in the week for exclusive content to go out to these third-party mobile apps, but as one Flipboard rival explains, this news c ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #exclusive content #media industry


Headline buys Jo Brand book on middle age

Headline has acquired a new book by comedian and actress Jo Brand, described as "the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #middle age


App Retention Increases, One-Time Usage Drops

As the app market evolves, a publisher’s success is measured less by the number of downloads and more by the engagement level and number of returning customers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Time Broadcasts Its First Google+ Hangout On Air

Last week, Time magazine hosted its first Google+ "Hangout On Air,"a video chat that is streamed live to the public and shared via Google+, YouTube and Time.com.  Hangouts On Air are an offshoot of Google+'s standard Hangouts Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #video chat


The New York Times Gets All The News That's Fit to Print – All of It – Into Flipboard

It's the first time you can read all of the Times on a site or app not owned by the Times. And it's the first time Flipboard has gotten a big publisher to hand over all its content. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #big publisher


At Open Road, Backlist Is the New Frontlist

When it comes to digital, the state of the ebook grabs all the headlines. But digital publisher Open Road Integrated Media, the greatest impact technology holds for publishing may be in the way ebooks are now marketed. “I’m a huge believer that the entire time you are the publisher of an... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #open road


Time Inc. relents, moves iOS magazines to Newsstand

Time Inc. appears to have relented in its refusal to sell subscriptions via its iOS apps, from which Apple takes a 30 percent commission. The Sports Illustrated publisher had resisted the move, forcing people to subscribe to the print edition in order to receive it digitally, but an update has... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #apple takes #sell subscriptions #ios apps


'Love Charing Cross Road' festival on 30th June

Foyles and Blackwell in Charing Cross Road are joining together with other local businesses to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #local businesses #30th june


Hearst Hails the Age of the Tablet, Says Readers are Willing to Pay More for Tablet Editions

London, England – The World e-Reading Congress drew a number of influential speakers in London today, including Duncan Edwards, CEO of Hearst Magazines International, who highlighted the striking rise of tablet publishing. Hearst is ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #tablet editions


Los Angeles Times Shutting Down LA Magazine

The Los Angeles Times is shutting down its monthly Sunday magazine, LA. The last issue will be June 3rd and the closure comes after attempts to recast the publication through frequency reductions, management shifts and editorial change-ups. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #frequency reductions


New book 'festival' for Charing Cross Road

Foyles and Blackwell are teaming up for the first time to organise a joint Charing Cross Road... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Time magazine breastfeeding cover: A shocking 'stroke of genius'

Time magazine's breastfeeding cover story asks: "Are You Mom Enough?" But it might as well ask: "Who Says Print Is Dead?" Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #time magazine


PPA Conference: Digital takes up 80% of our time, says Hearst's Dolphin

Although print accounts for 80% of Hearst's revenues, the publisher is spending 80% of its time on the "huge potential" of digital, according to Ella Dolphin, publishing director of Hearst Magazines UK's young women's group. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #young women #huge potential #ppa conference #ella dolphin


Time Inc. Shrinking Again

Not a good sign for the magazine business: A rough quarter for Time Inc. the world's biggest magazine publisher. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #magazine business


Time Inc. Subscription, Advertising Revenues Down in Q1 2012

Time Inc. reports a loss in both advertising and subscription revenue in the first quarter of 2012. Ad revenue decreased five percent (equivalent to $19 million), with subscription revenue down two percent (valued at $6 million). Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #$6 million #subscription revenue #advertising revenues


Peet leads calls for Carnegie age-separation

Authors have called for the Carnegie Medal to offer two separate awards. The medal, which is... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #separate awards #carnegie medal


What Should Bookstores Stock in a Digital Age?

Nothing has challenged bricks-and-mortar bookstores to reconsider their physical space and what they carry more than the recession and the rise of ebooks. Recently, two independents announced that they will reduce their space. Third Street Books in McMinnville, Ore., which expanded in 2006, is... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #digital age #street books #physical space


Getting a read on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

More than 400 authors are scheduled over the two days at USC. Writers as varied as Anne Rice and Jeff Kinney will hold court.What do Sugar Ray Leonard, Judy Blume, Betty White, T.C. Boyle, Rodney King, Joseph Wambaugh and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in common? They're just a few of the high-profile... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #kareem abdul-jabbar #rodney king #judy blume #jeff kinney #anne rice


IAB's New Standardization Tools Just Might Mean You Won't See That Beer Ad Ten Times in a Row

The Interactive Advertising Bureau is addressing a problem that's plagued tech-centric industries since the first Mac-vs.-Dos argument: standardization. The problem has become acute for Web video, an industry enjoying meteoric growth, and the growing pains that come with that growth. So the IAB... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #tech companies #good time #ad break