Book Reviews John K. Cox Jurij Koch / Courtesy of Domowina-Verlag In the 1950s, a girl whom Jurij Koch knew in high school moved away from their hometown of Cottbus in East Germany. It was a case, he says in his recent memoir, of “Weg von Ulbricht, hin zu Adenauer” (Away from Ulbricht, over to Adenauer). Her mother took the girl to the West, before the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. This is a familiar enough arc of events, but, as it turns out, the motivation behind the move is probably not something that most people outside of Germany would have considered. The reason was ethnic. Little Greta was growing up surrounded by Sorbs in the southeastern part of the country. The Sorbian language reminded her mother of Polish, and she had had quite enough of the Poles in her pre-1945 home farther east. In addition, Greta’s family was Protestant and they felt awash in a “Catholic sea.” So off they went, leaving the author of this autobiography—who, well, yes, had a crush on Greta—scratching his head. Like so many other scenes in this engaging book, this story blends the customary with the unexpected to stretch our understanding of what is “German.” Like so many other scenes in this engaging book, Koch’s memoir blends the customary with the unexpected to stretch our understanding of what is “German.” Windrad auf dem Dach (Domowina-Verlag, 2016) is the second volume of Koch’s memoirs to be published in German. Currently in his... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-27 20:47:13 UTC ]
Forty years ago, IBM researcher Charlie Bennett helped usher in the study of quantum mechanics’ impact on computing. IBM is still at it—and so is Bennett. In May 1981, at a conference center housed in a chateau-style mansion outside Boston, a few dozen physicists and computer scientists gathered... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2021-05-07 08:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Verso has acquired Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests and the Pursuit of Freedom, a memoir by Derecka Purnell. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-05 20:05:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Williams Collins has pre-empted a memoir by political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein uncovering his family’s devastating experiences of persecution during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-05 16:01:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A contributing editor for British Vogue, Paris Lees made her name as the UKs first high-profile transgender woman to break into the mainstream when she was named top of the Pink List of the most influential LGBT people in Britain, and became the first “out” transgender woman to appear on BBC... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-01 02:56:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Headline Publishing Group will publish The Queen Bee, the first memoir from Grammy-award winning rapper Lil’ Kim. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-29 09:26:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“Collision of Power” will be part memoir and part investigation into what’s ahead for the free press. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-28 16:45:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this
"Philip Roth: The Biography" and the memoir "The Splendid Things We Planned" are axed as Blake Bailey's publisher plans to donate to charities. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-27 21:01:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this
W.W Norton announced that it will cease publication of the newly released edition of Blake Bailey’s 'Philip Roth: The Biography,' as well as Bailey’s 2014 memoir 'The Splendid Things We Planned,' and take both works out of print. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
She was a respected translator from French and a writer on astrology, but her magnum opus was a memoir of her time with Kerouac and the Beats. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-04-26 17:55:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“Second Place” borrows its story line from a 1930s-era memoir about D.H. Lawrence, but its themes are quintessential Cusk. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-04-26 17:28:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In an excerpt from her memoir Negative Space, Lilly Dancyger writes about moving back to New York City as a teenager and grappling with her father's death. Continue reading at Guernica
[ Guernica | 2021-04-26 13:00:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A memoir of life in Silicon Valley, a capitalist satire, a novel that envisions a better future, and more: Your weekly guide to the best in books Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2021-04-23 14:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner—also known as the indie-pop musician Japanese Breakfast—writes of her mother’s battle with terminal cancer and the caretaking process. The mother-daughter relationship is the beating pulse of this memoir, presented in all of its uncomfortable complexities.... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Simon & Schuster president Jonathan Karp says seven-figure book deal will go ahead, after open letter from employees accuses publisher of being ‘on the wrong side of justice’Simon & Schuster has said it will not pull out of a seven-figure book deal with Mike Pence after some of its... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-04-21 12:05:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In “I Am a Girl From Africa,” the former U.N. adviser Elizabeth Nyamayaro retraces her life story from childhood starvation to NGOs. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-04-20 09:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Sheridan Smith has written her first memoir, Honestly, to be published by Ebury Spotlight this autumn. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-20 02:37:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Culture Street mural for Grenfell Tower, with poem by Ben Okri, North Kensington, London, image courtesy of IranWire and #PaintTheChange. London-based writer Malu Halasa canvasses the Middle Eastern and North African culture scene in London,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-19 19:22:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The author of the memoir Blow Your House Down talks about secrecy, accountability, and resisting happy endings. Continue reading at Guernica
[ Guernica | 2021-04-19 13:00:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this
What am I supposed to do with autofiction? Where is it shelved, literally and mentally? Is it memoir or fiction? Pick a lane. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-04-16 10:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Manga makes its mark: 'My Hero Academia, Vol. 27' by Kohei Horikoshi is the #6 book in the country. Plus chef Erin French's memoir finds its way onto our hardcover nonfiction list, and we spy Flynn Berry in hardcover fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this