Drawing on her panoramic reading and her experiences of the authorly life cycle, Atwood surveys her trade with a mix of seriousness and gentle fun“You may find the subject a little peculiar,” warns Margaret Atwood, before she discusses the writer’s relationship with mortality. “It is a little peculiar. Writing itself is a little peculiar.” Atwood’s survey of her profession makes this seem like an understatement: after all, she argues, writers have been placed in close company with the devil and the dead; they have secret identities and hidden doubles; they are death-defying magicians, self-erasing nobodies, even – if you want to get “murky and pretentious” – shamanistic travellers. This book prefers to stay on the side of clarity and self-deprecation, combining evidence drawn from her panoramic reading – one chapter deals with The Tempest, The Wizard of Oz and Klaus Mann’s Mephisto – with her own experiences of the life cycle of an author. She tempers the seriousness of her questions – What is a writer? For whom do writers write? – by poking gentle fun at her trade, describing the machine-like publishing industry as “cog eat cog”, and quietly mocking endless discussion panels. Yet Atwood sees her kind reflected everywhere – from Gilgamesh to The Beast With Five Fingers – and works hard on their behalf: advocate, analyst and always, writer.•To order On Writers and Writing for £7.99 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 'Enemies: A History of the FBI,' Tim Weiner ('Legacy of Ashes') offers a scathing indictment of the FBI, before J. Edgar Hoover and since.Each week, the FBI sends reporters an email of "top ten news stories" that it hopes will hit the headlines. The press releases usually highlight crooks... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tracie McMillan takes us to agricultural fields, Wal-Mart and Applebee's, where she works short stints and tries to eat healthfully on meager pay.The American Way of Eating Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thomas Mallon's novel deftly paints a picture of 1970s America and adds an imaginative back story to the characters.Watergate Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author's short stories paint vivid pictures of growing up Filipino American.In a smoke-stained San Francisco hotel room, Felix Starro is making fake blood. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The murder of Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey and a family's violent rise to prominence is given gripping life.On a morning in August 2007, a slender masked man ran up to Chauncey Bailey on an Oakland sidewalk and fired two shotgun blasts at the journalist. The first slug tore through Bailey... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan has acquired a non-fiction title by Man Booker-shortlisted novelist and journalist... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gollancz has signed a debut science fiction novel from comedian and songwriter Mitch Benn, star... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author of The Time Traveller’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger is to write a short story for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A group of writers in India have set up a petition calling for the lifting of the country's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eight female novelists have made the Waterstones 11 2012 selection, with three novels each from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A group of Chinese writers has filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the company's App Store sells pirated versions of the authors' works. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Tamarind Books has called for more writers and illustrators to tackle multicultural... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Aperture, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting photography, is gearing up for a big year in 2012. In addition to celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, it has teamed with Paris Photo, the annual French photography fair, to launch The PhotoBook Review, a new biannual publication on... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An MP has joined the Bookseller Association's calls for the government to respond to the Mary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Businesses have little recourse - or human contact - when resolving disputes with Google or Facebook, write Julian Lee and Ben Grubb. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has acquired an account of this year's Libyan conflict by Sky News reporter... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Booksellers Association has welcomed Mary Portas report into the future of the high... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The £2,000 Educational Writers' Award 2011 has gone to Moon: Apollo 11 and Beyond... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles has partnered with the National Academy of Writing to host courses for writers seeking to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook will "imminently" launch a plugin for publishers and public figures to ask their readers to subscribe on Facebook directly from their own Web sites. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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