Michael Caine’s novel will most likely be rubbish, but I’m glad he’s found his happy ending | Xan Brooks

Most actors make terrible novelists – but writing the ‘cracking thriller’ Deadly Game was life-affirming for the veteran star, so never mind the finished productGod spare us another millionaire actor who fancies themself as a bestselling author –unless the actor is Michael Caine, in which case good on him, raise your glass. The 90-year mainstay of British cinema spent lockdown writing his first novel, tapping away at his iPad every day, toiling to master the intricacies of the craft. “Paragraphs,” he said. “Punctuation, all that.” The book might be awful. It won’t trouble the Man Booker panel. But in finally completing the thing, Caine has indirectly written himself a happy ending of sorts – the most knackered and lovely writer’s cliche of them all.According to Caine’s publishers, Deadly Game is “a cracking thriller with a real voice and a super twist”, although quite frankly, what else would they say? Specifically, it’s about a London DCI, Harry Taylor, who’s on the trail of a stash of uranium. Potential suspects include a posh art dealer called Julian Smythe, and a dodgy oligarch, Vladimir Voldrev. Also in the mix: a couple of neo-Nazis, a Colombian drug cartel (possibly several, going from the press release) and a pair of cockney refuse collectors. Caine says he got the basic idea from a newspaper story he once read about two East End blokes who found uranium on the rubbish tip. Everything else (the Nazis, the Colombians, dodgy Vladimir) is 100% uncut Michael Caine.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-08 12:30:07 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Michael Caine’s novel will most likely be rubbish, but I’m glad he’s found his happy ending | Xan Brooks"


You’re on Your Way: An Interview with Jamie Mason

IF YOU ASK a group of crime novelists to list the most exciting stylists working today, Jamie Mason’s name is bound to come up. In many thrillers, the language is workmanlike — plain, even. The suspense is the point; the sentences are the delivery system. In Jamie’s books, however, the words... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-09-22 19:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Laila Lalami, Colson Whitehead among National Book Award fiction nominees

10 novelists make the National Book Awards fiction longlist: Laila Lalami, Colson Whitehead, Ocean Vuong, Julia Phillips and more. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-09-20 18:20:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Reading Pathways: Where to Start With Colleen Hoover’s Books

Get acquainted with the romance and YA novels of a prolific and bestselling author with this reading pathway for Colleen Hoover books. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-09-19 10:33:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Here are the 10 best lines from Vulture’s profile of “book-fluencer” Zibby Owens.

First, can we all agree that it should be “lit-fluencer”? Moving on: 1. “Gertrude Stein had time to read books. But do moms?” 2. “Owens’s dinner will be in a decidedly lower key: a gingham tablecloth, uniformed servers passing out pigs in blankets, Zibby’s kids popping in occasionally to whisper... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-17 19:31:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


“Between the Facts”: A Conversation with Monique Truong, by Renee H. Shea

Interviews Renee H. Shea Monique Truong / Photo © Haruka Sakaguchi Monique Truong, who came to the United States in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam, began exploring untold and ignored histories in her first novel, The Book of Salt (2003), told through... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-09-17 13:54:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Riot’s Deals of the Day for September 16th, 2019

Sponsored by The Atlantis Code, an “Indiana Jones meets Da Vinci Code” adventure by NYT bestselling author Charles Brokaw. These ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-09-16 14:54:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Talking to Strangers’ is a swing and a miss

The bestselling author says that we need more trust. But the monstrous crimes in his case studies don't help his argument. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-09-13 02:33:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Talking to Strangers’ is a swing and a miss

The bestselling author says that we need more trust. But the monstrous crimes in his case studies don't help his argument. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-09-13 02:33:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Talking to Strangers’ is a swing and a miss

The bestselling author says that we need more trust. But the monstrous crimes in his case studies don't help his argument. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-09-13 02:33:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Talking to Strangers’ is a swing and a miss

The bestselling author says that we need more trust. But the monstrous crimes in his case studies don't help his argument. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-09-13 02:33:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Michael Joseph to publish new Marian Keyes novel in 2020

Michael Joseph will publish the latest novel by bestselling author Marian Keyes next year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-11 07:16:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Shanker Out, Litterick In as CEO of EnsembleIQ

[caption id="attachment_170775" align="alignright" width="150"] Jennifer Litterick[/caption] EnsembleIQ's board of directors has appointed Jennifer Litterick as the company's next CEO, effective immediately, marking the third leadership change at the Chicago-based B2B publisher since its... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2019-09-09 19:33:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What we're reading August 2019

Lowborn by Kerry HudsonKerry Hudson is best known for her award-winning fiction. Her first book, Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, won the Scottish First Book Award and earned her a place on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list. Her latest book, Lowborn,... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-08-30 08:51:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Tales of The Handmaid’s Tale

How The Handmaid’s Tale keeps going, with Margaret Atwood, Ann Dowd, and novelists Louise Erdrich and Megan Hunter. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2019-08-29 21:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Matrix 4 is happening, and Aleksander Hemon and David Mitchell wrote the script.

Welcome back to the 90s. (And, I guess, the early 2000s.) As Variety reports, there is officially a fourth Matrix film in the works, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss back in the saddle as Neo and Trinity. Lana Wachowski will direct; she also wrote the script with novelists Aleksandar Hemon... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-20 20:44:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Writer’s Alibi: My Terrible, Dreadful, Hope-the-FBI-Doesn’t-Look-at-This Search History

The internet search histories of novelists can be quite disturbing. Writer Kathleen Valenti shares the methodology behind web searches for her newest medical mystery. The post The Writer’s Alibi: My Terrible, Dreadful, Hope-the-FBI-Doesn’t-Look-at-This Search History by Kathleen Valenti appeared... Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-08-20 14:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Gollancz lands thriller from Nalini Singh

Gollancz has landed a “dark, suspenseful” first thriller from bestselling author Nalini Singh in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-05 21:39:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Experiments in Postcapitalism: On Dempow Torishima’s “Sisyphean”

SCIENCE FICTION HAS BEEN mapping the topography of a yawning postcapitalism since the cyberpunk movement of the 1980s, a laborious undertaking still ongoing in the 21st century. Before cyberpunk, Deleuze and Guattari pointed the way in their books on capitalism and schizophrenia; after... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-08-03 12:30:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Riot’s Deals of the Day for July 31st, 2019

Sponsored by The Line Between by New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee—just $1.99 for a limited time. These deals ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-07-31 13:27:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


When Novelists Become Method Actors

During one of my first open mics in New York City, the comic running the mic tapped me on the elbow after my set and said, “Hey, you’re funny!” She sounded surprised. I was, too. Being funny wasn’t my main goal. I was there to spy on comics, trying to experience the highs and lows […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-31 08:49:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this