Polly Toynbee: what my privileged start in life taught me about the British class system

It wasn’t just luck that steered the Guardian columnist to Oxford and into a media career ... She reflects on the subtle mechanics of class (and an early encounter with a naked future PM)Children know. They breathe it in early, for there’s no unknowing the difference between nannies, cleaners, below-stairs people and the family upstairs. Children are the go-betweens, one foot in each world, and yet they know very well from the earliest age where they belong, where their destiny lies or, to put it crudely, who pays whom. Tiny hands are steeped young in the essence of class and caste. In nursery school, in reception they see the Harry Potter sorting hat at work. They know. And all through school those fine gradations grow clearer, more precise, more consciously knowing, more shaming, more frightening. Good liberal parents teach their children to check their privilege – useful modern phrase – but it swells up like a bubo on the nose. There’s no hiding it.I can summon up the childhood shame at class embarrassments. Aged seven like me, Maureen, with her hair pinned sideways in a pink slide, lived in a pebble-dashed council house by the water tower. They were at the other end of Lindsey, more hamlet than village, half a mile down the road from my father’s pink thatched cottage set in the flat prairie lands of Suffolk, where I spent half my time, the other half in London, shuttling between divorced parents. I envied Maureen for what looked to me like a cheerful large family... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 12:00:56 UTC ]
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Political class has 'sold out' on Brexit, Clarke tells publishers

The entire political class has "sold out" on Brexit, Ken Clarke MP has told delegates to the IPG Conference, as he discussed the government's current "astonishing and complex" task in negotiating a new relationship with the European Union and rest of the world. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Manchester-based author who's won a life-changing $165k book prize

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's debut novel was initially rejected by British publishers. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2018-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Music fans mourn end of 66-year-old British magazine NME's print edition

British music magazine NME, which helped mold musical tastes for several generations, will stop publishing its weekly print edition. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2018-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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B&N Starts Nationwide Book Club

The Barnes & Noble Book Club will debut May 2, with Meg Wolitzer’s forthcoming novel 'The Female Persuasion' as its first title. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: Skin in the Game - Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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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Independent Bookstores Vie for British Book Award Honors in Eight Regions

With one bookstore reporting a 36-percent increase in business in 2017, almost 40 retailers are put into contention for the Independent Bookstore of the Year prize at the British Book Awards, the Nibbies. The post Independent Bookstores Vie for British Book Award Honors in Eight Regions appeared... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie bookshops vie for The British Book Awards title

A bumper crop of Britain and Ireland’s best independent bookshops are bucking the market trend, achieving double-digit sales rises in 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Unusual Life of Andy Kaufman: PW Talks with Box Brown

In his new graphic biography, 'Is This Guy for Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman,' cartoonist Box Brown documents the life of the eccentric comedian, actor and professional wrestling performer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Global deals for British psychologist's 'riveting' debut

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two British playwrights benefit from Audible's $5m fund

The first group of emerging playwrights to benefit from Audible's $5m fund will include two British writers: Gary McNair, from Glasgow, and James Fritz, from London.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jack Deere Shares His 'Broken Life'

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacaranda pledges to publish 20 black British writers in 2020

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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My reading life

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Book Award Judges Announced as the ‘Nibbies’ Entry Deadline Approaches

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Helen Dunmore's 'life affirming' poetry wins the Costa

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Where to Start With Ursula K. Le Guin

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[ Slate | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former SouthComm CEO Starts New Company, Acquires Three Magazines

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[ Folio Magazine | 2018-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'House of Cards' Season 6 production shows signs of life

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[ Baltimore Sun | 2018-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook to start ranking news sources on trustworthiness

Facebook Inc., which is cutting the amount of news in its news feed, will prioritize information from the publishers that remain on the social network based on how trustworthy they are, the company said. Trustworthiness is based on a recent survey of U.S. Facebook users that gauged their... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Eccles British Library Writer's Award: investing in authors

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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