The Pulitzer prize-winning author discusses her follow up to A Visit from the Goon Squad and how imagining a new technology set her writing freeWhen Jennifer Egan bought her house in Brooklyn 20 years ago, it had been on the market for eight months. The owners were an elderly couple, and the place was distressed. “There were holes in the floor and the walls were drab,” says Egan, sitting in the kitchen of what is now a beautifully renovated property, full of lovely art and restored period details. Remembering how it was fills the 59-year-old novelist with a peculiar and very specific dread. “What really made it gloomy – and I’m very conscious of this – was that the family who’d lived here, the child had grown up, the parents had gotten old, and I think they’d stopped seeing it. There are moments when I think: is that happening now?”It’s the condition in which most of us live – after a while, we stop seeing our surroundings – and one against which Egan’s skill as a novelist is set. She is highly attuned to the falsifying effects of nostalgia, complacency, solipsism and ignorance of history, and to the delusions of uniqueness that dog every age. She is obsessed, for example, with the 1870s, “an amazing decade, because, except for the telegraph, almost none of the inventions we take for granted now – electricity, say – existed yet. And yet, 20 or 30 years later, there were cars. I think we underestimate the degree to which the change we experience is what it’s always been... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-04-16 08:00:03 UTC ]
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The HMV Group made a profit of £11.5m from the sale of book chain Waterstone's, but the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The History Press is in consultation with a "small number" of staff over redundancies,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary agent Fiona Spencer Thomas has sold a thriller by Alex Churton to Anthony Cheetham's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary agent Fiona Spencer Thomas has sold a thriller by Alex Churton to Anthony Cheetham's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The term content licensing is an ambiguous one, especially among publishers. Some consider reprints and e-prints to be a full-fledged content licensing operation; while others leasing out logos and awards for third-party use count it as their content licensing service. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It took some haggling, but Time Warner's publishing unit joins Hearst, Conde Nast and other big publishers on Amazon's new tablet. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 15/11/2011 - 08:15 Quadrille has made a series of promotions and appointments within its sales teams, with Melanie Gray stepping up to become UK sales director, joining the board at the independent publisher. The moves follow Faber's launch... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writing a how-to book in a static medium like paper about something as dynamic as Facebook is challenging at best and at worst...well...idiocy. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Weekly now has more than 200,000 Twitter followers, passing that mark last week and as of today has more that 203,000 following the magazine via @PublishersWkly. Eileen Gardner, a self-professed pop culture junkie and aspiring author, was the 200,000th PW follower. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In his closing remarks, Frankfurt Book Fair director Juergen Boos said that 2011 was a strong year for startups at the fair. Among those startups, perhaps none had a better reception than Small Demons, in Los Angeles. We couldnt have asked for a better first Frankfurt Book Fair, Small Demons... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the digital sector, some publishers are still waiting for online advertising to become as profitable as its print counterpart once was. Many complain digital ad offerings are not comparable to the quality in print; others say the infrequency and size of advertising units may be causing the... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 08:49 Picador has bought a debut novel by Royal Holloway creative writing MA graduate Emma Chapman, with editorial director Francesca Main making her first acquisition for the imprint. Main bought UK and Commonwealth rights,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Releasing a book on one of the worlds largest publishing marketplaces could help your company. Here's a quick guide to the basics of self-publishing. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 08:25 Alan Hollinghurst, whose novel The Stranger's Child was a surprise omission from the Man Booker shortlist this year, has been shortlisted for an award at the Galaxy National Book Awards 2011, with works by Ian Rankin and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twitter has become part of the daily routine for almost every editor, but are you using it as effectively as you can? Here, four very different editors offer their advice for engaging and growing readership via Twitter. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Low price, Amazon Silk browser and promising ecosystem of movies, apps and books make the Fire stand out in a crowd. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 28/09/2011 - 08:39 Pan Macmillan will be holding the world's first live Twitter book signing to launch Lord Alan Sugar's book The Way I See It: Rants, Revelations and Rules for Life. The signing will be held over www.lordsugar.tv at 1pm... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twitter has become part of the daily routine for almost every editor, but are you using it as effectively as you can? Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 20/09/2011 - 08:17 The Natural History Museum has launched its first ebook for the iPad, created from the most expensive book ever sold. The ebook of The Birds of America by John James Audubon features all 435 illustration plates of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On Tuesday Twitter announced that it's launching a new analytics tool that will initially be available to a select group of partners as a pilot program, but will be made available to everyone in the "next few weeks." Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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