Richard Desmond: ‘I hate to admit this, but I’ve never actually hit anyone’

He’s not a thug, he doesn’t trust his celebrity friends, and he’s definitely not a pornographer. Over a cigar delivered on a silver platter, the self-appointed king of Express Newspapers lays into scruffy booksellers and sets the record straightRichard Desmond held a party at Claridge’s in Mayfair this week to launch his autobiography. “Everybody” was there – “Jacob Rothschild came, Katie Price came, Barbara Windsor came. It was a whole cross-section of everybody. Lovely.” One person who was not there for long, though, was the man from Waterstones staffing the book stand.“I walk in, and I see this bloke, this scruffy bloke. He’s in like a real old sweater with holes in it, jeans with holes in.” Desmond’s nose wrinkles. “I said to him, ‘Look, mate, you’ve got lords and ladies coming here, and international celebrities, and my friends and family. I don’t really want to see you look like that. Have you got a suit?’ ‘No.’ ‘Would you go out and get a suit?’ ‘No.’ I said, ‘Well then, mate, fuck off.’ I got one of my advertising girls to sell the books instead.” He turns to his PR. “Was I harsh?” The PR demurs respectfully. “Oh no, it was about principle.” It all worked out for the best, Desmond agrees happily, because the man “learned a lesson”, will tell everyone, “Oh, this guy was so aggressive to me, he threatened to kill me,” and thus “another myth” about the media tycoon’s violent temper will be born. “Well, that’s the point.” Related: A reading from the Book of Desmond:... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #katie price #media tycoon #richard created

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Richard Desmond: ‘I hate to admit this, but I’ve never actually hit anyone’'


Prince Harry’s memoir hits No 1 on Amazon, predicted to be one of year’s bestsellers

Spare is already the UK’s top-selling title a day ahead of publication, with high-street retailers expecting sustained interest in the royal psychodramaPrince Harry’s Spare is currently the No 1 in the UK Amazon bestseller charts and among the biggest pre-order titles for high-street retailers,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-01-09 17:46:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prince harry #top-selling title #day ahead #high-street retailers #official release #marry camilla #bestseller charts #memoir


January 6th Titles Hit the Market

The first of what will be a number of print books from commercial trade publishers featuring the text of the Select January 6th Committee Final Report hit the market last week, selling more than 46,000 combined copies at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #print books


The Guardian hit by suspected ransomware attack

Prominent news organizations are high-value targets for hackers and it appears that The Guardian is the latest to have fallen victim to an attack. A "serious IT incident" struck the publication on Tuesday evening. “We believe this to be a ransomware attack but are continuing to consider all... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-12-21 19:15:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #vast majority #news organizations #recent months #fast company #apple news #york post #rogue employee #twitter accounts


10 New Historical Fiction Books Hitting the Shelves

Whether you love spy fiction, romances, sprawling sagas, or even horror, there’s a new historical fiction book for you on this list, like In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-12-21 11:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #historical fiction


Hitting the Books: AI is already reshaping air travel, will airports themselves be next?

The holiday travel season is once again upon us! It's the magical time of the year that combines standing in airport security lines with incrementally losing your mind as the hands of your watch perpetually tick closer to a boarding time that magically moved up 45 minutes since you left the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-12-04 15:30:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hudson river


Elon Musk never cared if Twitter was a business failure – he wants a political win | Richard Seymour

The social platform’s new billionaire owner wants to rebalance information ecologies in favour of the rightWhy bother reinstating Donald Trump’s Twitter account? Twitter owner Elon Musk, having said that no such decisions would be made until a content moderation council was established, made the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-11-22 14:09:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #social platform #kanye west #precarious position #political activist


A Summary and Analysis of Richard Wright’s ‘The Man Who Was Almost a Man’

‘The Man Who Was Almost a Man’ is a short story by the American author Richard Wright (1908-60), originally published as ‘Almos’ a Man’ in Harper’s Bazaar in 1940 before being revised by Wright later in his life. The final version was published in 1960. In the story, a black […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2022-11-11 15:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richard wright #short story #originally published #final version #american author


Richard Charkin in London: An Updated A-Z of Trade Publishing

Updating his first Publishing Perspectives column published four years ago, Richard Charkin offers a fresh look at trade book publishing. The post Richard Charkin in London: An Updated A-Z of Trade Publishing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-11-07 16:59:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richard charkin #trade publishing #trade book


Hitting the Books: How Pokemon took over the world

The impact of Japanese RPGs on pop and gaming culture cannot be overstated. From Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star to Chrono Trigger, NieR, and Fire Emblem — JRPGs have spanned console generations, bridged the Japanese and North American markets, spawned entire universes of IP and delivered... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-11-06 15:30:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #earn badges #social dynamics


Hitting the Books: AI could help shrink America's gender wage gap

Women have faced gender-based discrimination in the workforce throughout history, denied employment in all but a handful of subservient roles, regularly ignored for promotions and pay raises — and rarely ever compensated at the same rates as their male peers. This long and storied socioeconomic... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-10-30 14:30:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #artificial intelligence #southern california #playing field


Listen to the eerie sounds of a solar storm hitting the Earth's magnetic field

Put horror movies and games aside for a few minutes to listen to something truly unsettling this Halloween season. The European Space Agency has released audio of what our planet's magnetic field sounds like. While it protects us from cosmic radiation and charged particles from solar winds, it... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-10-24 15:40:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bringing art #november 3rd #nielsen


Hitting the Books: The early EVs that paved the way for GM's Ultium success

General Motors has been in business for more than a century, but in its 112 years, the company has never faced such challenges as it does in today's rapidly electrifying and automating industry. The assembly line jobs from Detroit's heyday have been replaced by legions of automated industrial... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-10-23 14:30:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins


Richard Charkin’s Frankfurt, Day Four: ‘Suffering’

The 'essential elements of the Frankfurter Buchmesse experience,' Richard Charkin says, come along with some suffering. The post Richard Charkin’s Frankfurt, Day Four: ‘Suffering’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-10-22 03:26:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richard charkin #essential elements #frankfurter buchmesse


Hitting the Books: The women who made ENIAC more than a weapon

After Mary Sears and her team had revolutionized the field of oceanography, but before Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson helped put John Glenn into orbit, a cadre of women programmers working for the US government faced an impossible task: train ENIAC, the world's first ... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-10-16 14:30:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #clear path


Hitting the Books: What the wearables of tomorrow might look like

Apple's Watch Ultra, with its 2000-nit digital display and GPS capabilities, is a far cry from its Revolutionary War-era self-winding forebears. What sorts of wondrous body-mounted technologies might we see another hundred years hence? In his new book, The Skeptic's Guide to the Future, Dr.... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-10-01 14:30:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fifty years #dinner party #automatically adjust #good reminder #brain-machine interface #science fiction


Richard Osman is perfectly at ease pretending to be a 78-year-old woman

The “Thursday Murder Club” author talks about how he gets in character, where he hides his clues — and the murder story in his family history. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-09-21 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richard osman #family history


Hitting the Books: What if 'Up' but pigeons?

We all have those thoughts, the ones that come to us in the small hours of the night. Who am I? Why are we here? What if my cellphone ran on vacuum tubes instead? Randall Munroe has the answer to, well, only one of those questions, but also the answers to a whole bunch of others collected... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-09-18 15:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #penguin random house


Anne Heche was working on another memoir before she died. It hits shelves next year

Anne Heche died in August of injuries she sustained from a fiery car crash. She published her first memoir, "Call Me Crazy," in 2001. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-09-15 21:01:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hits shelves #memoir


Strand Bookstore’s $1,500 Bottega Veneta tote bag sucks and I hate it.

Strand Bookstore is taking the idea of the “status tote” to a whole new level and is now selling a special Bottega Veneta limited edition black tote back for $1,500. I hate it. Yes, we here at Lit Hub are definitely part of the Literary Tote Industrial Complex, which traffics in superficial... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-13 13:56:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #strand bookstore #lit hub #bookstore