They interrupt narrative and disrupt plot – no wonder novelists have been slow to warm to mobile phones. But a new generation is putting technology at the heart of their workWhat do you call a phone when it rings in a fictional world? “Mobile” and “cell” are old, “smartphone” is almost a tautology and “phone” is so intrusive that the word seems to ring out shrilly from the page the instant you type it. This may be because we read fiction partly to escape our phones, or it may be that phones, even fictional ones, seem to demand too much of our attention. Telephones, of the kind we all keep handy, are so much a part of daily life we touch them as often as our faces. But phones in fiction require a sleight of hand: if characters use them as realism dictates, they will feel as interruptive on the page as they do at the dinner table. How can authors navigate this challenge?Like bathrooms and paid employment, it is amazing how often phones are dispensed with by many otherwise realist fiction writers. JM Coetzee famously wrote to Paul Auster (in Here and Now, the 2013 selection of their letters) that he was not prepared “to write novels in which people go around with personal electronic devices”. Because, if “everyone has access to more or less everyone else, what becomes of all that plotting?” He also lamented the impact of mobile technology on the “novel of adultery”, though surely Sally Rooney has proved there was nothing to fear. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-22 10:00:09 UTC ]
Claire Adam has won the £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize for first-time novelists with her "electrifying" debut Golden Child (Faber). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-18 18:50:22 UTC ]
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News and Events WLT Norman, Okla. (June 11, 2019) – Robert Con Davis-Undiano, Neustadt Professor and executive director of the World Literature Today organization at the University of Oklahoma, this week announced the names of nine writers to be the jury... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2019-06-10 16:04:37 UTC ]
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REVIEW: Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the Richard Wagner of uncertainty. While the Ring Cycle of the German composer/librettist portrayed the struggle of the gods in a series of operas, the Incerto series of books by the Lebanese-American author is devoted to humans - specifically how we deal with... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2018-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At Mexico’s Guadalajara International Book Fair, which runs through Sunday, Paul Auster has talked of turning to novels after ‘hitting a wall’ with poetry. And Amazon Publishing introduces a new imprint for short-form work. By Adam Critchley And Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief |... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Are you drowning in constant emails, phone calls, paperwork, interruptions and meeting actions? Smart Work is the busy professional's guide to getting organized in the digital workplace You'll develop a simple and sustainable productivity system to organize your actions, manage your inputs and... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2017-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lies have become alternative facts and truth irrelevant in the face of power, while we all give up our privacyIn Book 8 of The Odyssey we read that the gods weave misfortune so that later generations have something to sing about. It wasn’t a god but a conman who now leads me to describe how –... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What a to-do there has been about this year's Man Booker Prize. First, it was the shortcomings of the longlist, which, according to Britain's Telegraph, had "overlooked some of the year's most exciting releases". Then, of course, it was all about the shortlist, which had too many Americans on... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster and Elif Shafak have joined a number of other authors in criticising Russia’s treatment of Ukraine and calling for freedom of expression to be preserved. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize, considered one of the most prestigious fiction awards in the world, was revealed Wednesday. Three American authors made the cut from the longlist: George Saunders, for “Lincoln in the Bardo”; Paul Auster, for his novel “4 3 2 1”; and Emily Fridlund for... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Man Booker Prize has announced its shortlist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and it includes books by Paul Auster and George Saunders. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Newport Beach is using mobile technology to connect deaf and hard-of-hearing people with municipal services, officials said. Officials recently placed special computer tablets at City Hall, libraries and other facilities so people who need sign-language interpretation can have an on-demand,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google could be facing a fine up to $4bn after being sued for allegedly not allowing employees to post opinions about the company or write novels without getting their employer to sign off on the final draft. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber & Faber is set to publish Paul Auster's first novel in seven years, an “epic" story of birthright and possibility titled 4 3 2 1. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week’s regional nonfiction bestsellers help readers answer the big questions, from how best to live to what’s good for the dinner table. Plus Oscar’s touch proves golden for the winning adaptations, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A capacity crowd of approximately 1,000 people turned out to watch BEA's curtain-raising event, a highly anticipated conversation between bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen and Laura Miller of Salon.com. The discussion centered on 'Purity,' Franzen's fifth novel and his first since 2010's... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading science fiction, chick lit and fantasy novels by people of colour for a year brought home to me just how white my reading world wasIn 2014, I managed to read 25 novels. All of them were written by people of colour. That was the result of a small challenge I set myself: not to read books... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Affordable, widely available, and packed with nutrition, squash has a lot going for it. Author Rob Firing makes the case for why we should pay more attention to this humble family of gourds. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nearly 900 authors across world back criticism of online retailer's business tactics in ebooks dispute with US publisher HachetteThey include some of the biggest literary names on the planet, among them Stephen King, Donna Tartt, Paul Auster, James Patterson and John Grisham; a Pulitzer prize... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What can cookbooks tell us about politics, economics, and daily life throughout American history? A new series from Michigan State University Press explores just that. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A first novel with glowing endorsements from such literary lights as Jonathan Franzen, Paul Auster, Geoff Dyer, and John Ashbery—what more could a young writer want? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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