Mat Osman: ‘I wanted to write about a dirty, dangerous, working-class London’

The Suede bassist and author on writing without a safety net, terrifying himself for his next novel and which of the Thursday Murder Club books – by his brother Richard – he likes bestMat Osman is, along with Brett Anderson, a founding and current member of the band Suede, and the author of two novels. The Ruins, published in 2020, is a modern murder mystery about estranged brothers. His latest, The Ghost Theatre, is set in Elizabethan London and tells the tale of the Blackfriars Boys, a real life Elizabethan theatre troupe made up of children who were often snatched from the streets to act in popular plays of the day. They are joined by Shay, a young female “Aviscultan”; a worshipper of the birds that she communes with as she scales the city’s rooftops on the run from her enemies. The book has been widely praised and the Guardian picked it as one of its novels of 2023. Osman is the older brother of TV presenter and fellow novelist Richard Osman and lives in north-west London..It isn’t the kind of book you imagine a musician would write…I really hope that’s true. My first novel was about a musician, about brothers and stuff and it drew from [my] experience. [With The Ghost Theatre] I was really aware that I wanted to write something without a safety net, where I had to make it all up. Because I want to be a writer, not a musician who has written a book. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-03-23 18:00:26 UTC ]

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Elyse Durham on Depicting the Artistic Side of the Cold War in Fiction

Elyse Durham’s immersive and thematically timely first novel centers on twin sisters, born during the Siege of Leningrad, trained as ballet dancers at the celebrated Vaganova, and launching their careers at the height of the Cold War. The plot is set to detonate at a critical point in the Cold... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-18 09:57:15 UTC ]
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James Murdoch lays bare his relationship with ‘misogynist’ father amid succession fight in rare interview

Rupert Murdoch’s second son reveals bitter details that set the scene for court battle for News Corp empireMore of the Murdoch family’s betrayals, leaks, “mind games”, manipulations, machinations and humiliations have been laid bare, in the wake of a messy court trial that offered tantalising... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-02-17 05:47:30 UTC ]
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Actor Sonya Walger's first novel comes at a time of incalculable loss

The book 'Lion' comes at a time of incalculable loss for Sonya Walger, who lost her home in the Palisades fire. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-02-04 11:00:34 UTC ]
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This Week’s Bestsellers: February 3, 2025

As fans snap up copies of ‘Onyx Storm’ the #1 (and #2) book in the country, author Rebecca Yarros is regrouping, swiftly. Plus Han Kang’s first novel since her Nobel Prize win, ‘We Do Not Part,’ debuts on our list, and Aurora Ascher has sympathy for the devil. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Joseph Earl Thomas wins The Center for Fiction’s 2024 First Novel Prize.

Joseph Earl Thomas won this year’s Center for Fiction First Novel Prize for his book God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer. Congratulations! The novel has made it onto several best-of-2024 lists, and has been praised as “a powerful examination of every day black life–of health and sex, race and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-12-11 16:36:55 UTC ]
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Joshua Mohr on Writing a Genre-Blending Post-Modern Punk Rock Saga

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[ Literrary Hub | 2024-10-22 08:55:25 UTC ]
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How Should Debut Novelists Measure Success?

Earlier this May, an Esquire article by Kate Dwyer called “Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch?” channeled the fear of debut novelists everywhere: What happens if no one buys my book? Book sales are an important way for editors and agents to gauge whether to invest in an author. If her first... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2024-10-16 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Luis Jaramillo on Creating a Multigenerational Speculative Story of the Borderlands

I highlighted Luis Jaramillo’s first book, the short story collection The Doctor’s Wife—a gathering of 91 ultra-short chapters, some as brief as a sentence, that add up to a portrait of a family—as a best book of 2012 for NPR. His first novel further reveals his wide-ranging literary talents.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-10-08 08:55:05 UTC ]
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Reese Witherspoon announces first novel co-written with Harlan Coben

The Oscar-winning actor and author of the Myron Bolitar series have been ‘writing pages over many months’ together to create a thriller to be published next yearReese Witherspoon has written her first novel, in collaboration with bestselling author Harlan Coben, publisher Penguin Random House... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-10-02 17:00:45 UTC ]
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Movie Alert: 'The Wild Robot'

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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‘I wanted to write a suburban Reacher’: Richard Osman talks to Lee Child about class, success and the secret to great crime writing

The two bestselling authors who both started in TV discuss writing as a second career, natural justice – and what they really think of literary fictionIn the four years since Richard Osman published his first Thursday Murder Club novel he has consistently topped the bestseller lists, and now his... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 09:00:23 UTC ]
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Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘My Brilliant Friend’

The first novel in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet was just voted the best book of the 21st century. We like it too. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-08-23 13:58:16 UTC ]
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Sofia Samatar on Collage, Literary Community, and the Stunning Loneliness of Publishing

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[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-19 08:56:33 UTC ]
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Boubacar Boris Diop’s Un tombeau pour Kinne Gaajo: The Value of Memory, Writing, and Translation, by Marame Gueye

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The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize has announced its 2024 longlist.

Distinct among the literary prizes for its emphasis on debuts, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize has been recognizing “exciting emerging voices in contemporary fiction” since 2006. This year, a panel of readers and judges selected a longlist of 25 novels out of 144 debuts submitted for... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-01 14:21:54 UTC ]
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“Through Multiculturalism We Become Better Humans”: A Conversation with Vonani Bila, by Ming Di

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[ World Literature Today | 2024-06-13 20:21:36 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘One of Our Kind,’ by Nicola Yoon

In Nicola Yoon’s first novel for adults, “One of Our Kind,” a woman finds that a lush California suburb is not what it seems. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-06-11 09:01:04 UTC ]
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‘I was told I was stupid’: Peep Show’s Paterson Joseph on his debut novel – and writing three operas

He starred in Peep Show, Green Wing and Wonka – and his first novel won an award. Now the star is making operas with 64 homeless people. Not bad going for someone who was written off by his teachersPaterson Joseph is, by his own admission, an unlikely opera librettist. He had turned 50 by the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-05-27 04:00:13 UTC ]
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