The author of Silicon Valley satire I Hate the Internet on the evils of social media, and how novelists have failed to tackle itWhen the novel I Hate the Internet came out in the US earlier this year, it had every likelihood of sinking without trace. It was self-published, it was by a young unknown – Jarett Kobek – and its main selling point was naked, gleeful contempt for the devices and technology platforms that are an essential part of all our daily lives. “Nothing says individuality like 500 million consumer electronics built by slaves,” he says at one point. “Welcome to hell.” Hell, for Kobek, a 38-year-old American of Turkish heritage, became daily life in San Francisco, where the novel is set. Along with many of the city’s artists and writers, he found himself driven out by the forces of gentrification, moved to Los Angeles, where he’s now based, set up his own small press, and wrote this book – a scorching satire of how a few hypercapitalist companies in Silicon Valley have come to dominate everything. I Hate the Internet didn’t sink without trace. It found a readership thirsty for its funny, acerbic edge, got a rave review in the New York Times, went to the top of the bestseller charts in Germany and has now been published here by Serpent’s Tail.So, do you actually hate the internet, Jarett?Not particularly. There’s part of it that I find really contemptible. The title is offered like the sneer of a 15-year-old into Twitter, after they’ve just seen a meme of... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thomas McMullan, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Fredrik Logevall are among the writers and illustrators who have won awards from the Society of Authors this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-09 09:31:45 UTC ]
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Benedict Macdonald and Nicholas Gates have won the Richard Jefferies Society & the White Horse Bookshop's Literary Prize for nature writing with their book Orchard: A Year in England's Eden (William Collins). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-24 15:30:01 UTC ]
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Picador has signed Briefly, A Delicious Life, a “richly witty and enormously moving” new novel from Nell Stevens. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-17 16:04:42 UTC ]
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I don’t know what’s wrong with me or what year I think it is, but it’s just now come to my attention that Ryan Gosling has a big ol’ tattoo on his arm commemorating the most disturbing and perverse children’s book of all time. That’s right, I am talking about The Giving Tree. (Okay, Love […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-22 17:49:35 UTC ]
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HarperNorth has signed a “bold and hopeful” book on political and social divisions by Youth Endowment Fund executive director Jon Yates. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-14 13:48:05 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has acquired (Dis)Connected: How to Stay Human in an Online World by podcaster and author Emma Gannon. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-01 17:49:30 UTC ]
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If you’re on the hunt for new literary rabbit holes, today is your lucky day. The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, created by lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower (a former editor of both the OED and Random House Dictionaries) is “a comprehensive quotation-based dictionary of the language of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-27 16:14:09 UTC ]
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Some news for self-published writers: this week, Publishers Weekly reported that Naver, Korea’s leading internet platform, is acquiring Wattpad for over $600 million in cash and stock. For those who aren’t among the 90 million people that used Wattpad in 2020, or who don’t have any fanfiction... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-22 18:51:40 UTC ]
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Digital media company Pondr Global launched its flagship site, called iPondr, on Monday. The site is focused on national stories that aren't quite breaking news. It launched with verticals including "Dimensions of Health," "Women at Work," and "The Great Rural" and stories on subjects like... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2021-01-12 12:00:09 UTC ]
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It’s been a bad year for libraries and those who love them. Despite some interesting tech innovations (we could have been cleaning our books with UV rays this whole time!), many temporarily reopened libraries are closing again due to surging COVID numbers and COVID exposures, and many other... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-11 18:26:49 UTC ]
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Though the novel is far from derivative, aspects of “The Fortunate Ones” pay homage to a slew of classic novels. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-01-05 17:46:10 UTC ]
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One of MIT Press’ big titles for 2021 is a graphic novel spy adventure based around a secret society formed by Marie Curie. Its co-creator Heather Einhorn explains why the world needs more stories about women in STEM Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-27 06:49:03 UTC ]
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The BBC Radiophonic Workshop made the famous science fiction theme tune and worked with the Beatles. Now it is preparing to make historyThe Radiophonic Workshop has always broken new sonic ground, from the Doctor Who theme to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Now they’re at it again – this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-15 10:00:31 UTC ]
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Dr Camilla Pang has won the £25,000 Royal Society Science Book Prize for her debut Explaining Humans (Viking), written as an instruction manual for a world she had difficulty understanding due to her Autism Spectrum Disorder. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-03 02:40:20 UTC ]
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This year has brought a lot of things, and most of them have been bad. One good thing, though, is there has been quite been a lot of innovative, beautiful, and fascinating book cover design, including, I’ve recently noticed, a book cover trend that I’d like to call “enormous pink lady faces.” In... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-01 15:33:42 UTC ]
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Chen writes about more expansive ideas of connection in a world that values romantic partnerships above all others. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-28 10:46:26 UTC ]
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Under the August 31 order, the closely watched case over book scanning and lending is to be ready for trial by November 2021. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With this year’s Independent Bookstore Day occurring at a particularly rough time for booksellers, the iconic Powell’s Books in Portland has decided to make a statement and stop selling through Amazon. In a statement, owner Emily Powell notes that the occasion, this year, feels “especially... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-27 19:29:44 UTC ]
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The 25th Bodley’s Librarian, Richard Ovenden, makes the case for libraries as vital arbiters of history and guardians of rights in his stirring first book Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-20 11:45:56 UTC ]
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