Penguin Little Black Classics review – affordable snippets of great literature

From Homer to Balzac to Darwin to Dickens, these Penguin 80th birthday booklets are where publishing meets public serviceIt was quite overwhelming, to open the box containing all 80 of these booklets – one for each year in the life of Penguin Books. Each is around 60 pages long; each is an extract from the Penguin Classics range. Where to start? In the end I just tipped them out and stuck out my hand at random. To my delight, I picked out Suetonius’s life of Caligula. You are never going to be bored by Suetonius, especially on Caligula. (Although it would perhaps have been more fitting, or certainly cuter, if my debased version of the Sortes Virgilianae – the ancient tradition of using the poet’s works for divination – had actually picked out Penguin’s snippet of Virgil.)As I was reading about the emperor’s vanity and excesses (“during the day he would indulge in whispered conversations with Jupiter Capitolinus” – a statue – “pressing his ear to the god’s mouth and sometimes raising his voice in anger”), I wondered who among us today is so puffed-up that they feel they can bend a venerable institution to their own will, making themselves a laughing-stock while doing so? Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here’s the longlist for the 2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature. The ten titles were selected from a pool of 141 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Translated Literature are Aron Aji, Jennifer Croft,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-10 19:00:15 UTC ]
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Here’s the longlist for the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The ten titles were selected from a pool of 333 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Young People’s Literature are Rose Brock, Huda... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-10 14:00:09 UTC ]
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2024 NBA Longlist for Young People's Literature Announced

The National Book Foundation has revealed the 2024 National Book Award longlist for Young People's Literature. The five finalists will be named on October 1, and the winner will be announced during the 75th awards ceremony on November 20 in New York City. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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2024 NBA Longlist for Young People's Literature Announced

The National Book Foundation is announcing the 2024 National Book Award longlists this week. Five finalists in each of the five categories—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people's literature—will be named October 1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Stuart Applebaum to Retire from Penguin Random House

In his 52-year career, Applebaum has served as publicity assistant, book publicist, Bantam publicity and public relations director, company spokesperson, chief communications officer, VP, SVP, and EVP. He will retire at the end of September. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Striding the Borderlands: Charles Ferdinand Ramuz’s Great Fear on the Mountain, by Alice-Catherine Carls

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[ World Literature Today | 2024-09-05 19:03:58 UTC ]
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New Historical Fiction by Black Authors

Get into the life of a Civil Rights icon when she's still a girl, learn about Nigerian women protesting, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-09-04 15:35:00 UTC ]
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Two Decades After Shaking Up Hollywood, the Black List Sets Its Sights on Fiction

Franklin Leonard's unproduced screenplay platform is ready to shake up the slush pile, expanding eligibility to unpublished novel manuscripts as part of a new program led by Randy Winston, formerly of the Center for Fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Lovely One,’ by Ketanji Brown Jackson

The Supreme Court justice’s memoir is deeply personal and full of hope, and highlights a fairy-tale marriage to her college boyfriend. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-09-03 09:04:29 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Under the Eye of the Big Bird,’ by Hiromi Kawakami

In Hiromi Kawakami’s new science fiction novel, Earth is a place of surveillance, isolation and dread. The characters (and clones) are doing their best to stay alive. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-09-03 09:00:59 UTC ]
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A Fall Harvest of Titles for Kids and Teens: 10 Great New Children’s Books Out in September

I’d rather not acknowledge that fall is approaching, mostly because I’ve made an embarrassingly small dent in my summer reading pile over the past three months. But the signs of autumn are unmistakable. Kids are going back to school, political ads are ramping up on swing state TV screens, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-03 08:56:54 UTC ]
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After a 10-year Hiatus, Englewood Review of Books Relaunches its Book Publishing Arm

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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August’s Best Reviewed Fiction

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[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-30 08:56:43 UTC ]
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August’s Best Reviewed Nonfiction

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Two Shores Press Will Highlight South Asian Literature

Following his graduation from NYU’s Center for Publishing, Writing, and Media program this spring, Aananth Daksnamurthy turned his thesis on getting more worldwide attention for South Asian literature into a new small publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales, Earnings Rose at Penguin Random House in the First Half of 2024

A good performance by PRH US, higher audiobook sales, and contributions from recently acquired companies led to a 13% increase in profits on an 8.5% sales gain at the world's largest trade publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘At War With Ourselves,’ by H.R. McMaster

A new memoir by the onetime national security adviser shows how the former president’s insecurities and weaknesses harmed U.S. foreign policy. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-08-27 09:03:11 UTC ]
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Lord of the Flies at 70: how a classic was reimagined as a graphic novel

Dutch illustrator Aimée de Jongh talks about turning William Golding’s haunting novel into a visual artwork, while the author’s daughter and others reflect on its evolving message of humanityLike many Dutch teenagers – like many teenagers, full stop – Aimée de Jongh first read Lord of the Flies... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-08-25 13:00:02 UTC ]
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Engadget Podcast: Pixel 9 reviews and Gamescom 2024

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Martha Baillie on the Ethics of Making Literature From a Loved One’s Suffering

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