The man who ushered classics like Catch-22 into the world, Gottlieb has reason to brag. But in his new memoir Avid Reader he prefers to downplay the editor’s role Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, once gave an interview where he credited his editor with kicking his work into shape. After the interview ran, Heller got an irritated phone call. The caller was his editor, Robert Gottlieb. Gottlieb told Heller to knock it off. “I felt then, and still do, that readers shouldn’t be made aware of editorial interventions,” Gottlieb writes in his new memoir, Avid Reader: A Life. “They have a right to feel that what they’re reading comes direct from the author to them.”Gottlieb’s book is full of stories like that one. He is a very unassuming person, for an alleged legend – a characterization he laughs at to me, saying his daughter pokes fun at him for so often being called it. Yet beginning at Simon & Schuster in the 1950s and 1960s, flourishing at Knopf in the 1970s and 1980s, and with a brief but memorable detour to the New Yorker (as an editor), Gottlieb’s editing pen has touched the manuscripts of most of the important American writers of the 20th century – and several of the British ones, too. He did it, though, as much from behind the scenes as he possibly could. “I’ve given very few interviews,” he told me when I met him at his book-lined townhouse on New York’s East Side. He is only giving this one now, he says, because he needs to help the publisher sell his book. ... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The influential cookbook author helped shape the nation’s culinary identity—for better and for worse. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2020-11-29 13:00:00 UTC ]
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This year has been a dumpster fire and we mean that literally. But the shining bright spot in the literary world is an abundance of great new books by Indigenous writers being published in 2020. Since it’s National Native American Heritage Month, we’re focusing on books coming out of the U.S.... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-11-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Journalist and translator Orsola Casagrande has joined independent publisher Comma Press as editor-at-large. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-24 19:39:58 UTC ]
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Audible has announced changes to its returns policy, following an open letter signed by over 10,000 authors and industry representatives demanding that it do so. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-24 18:12:01 UTC ]
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Last week, Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain was announced this year’s Booker Prize winner. It’s no small feat for any writer, but what makes this win so spectacular is the fact that Shuggie Bain is a debut novel. (It’s only the fifth debut novel to win in the Booker’s 51-year-old history.) During... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-24 09:51:08 UTC ]
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US writers' body The Authors Guild has sent an open letter to Audible, demanding the company make changes to its policy on returns. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-24 08:16:59 UTC ]
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“Wild landscapes, weird nature, science fiction — this really should be my jam. But no.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-11-19 10:00:06 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten share their thoughts on Robert Harris’s latest... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-17 17:16:17 UTC ]
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Phillip Lopate spoke to Literary Hub about the new anthology he has edited, The Glorious American Essay. He recounts his own development from an “unpatriotic” young man to someone, later in life, who would embrace such writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who personified the simultaneous darkness and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-17 09:49:35 UTC ]
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Ensuring transparency around pay, demystifying the hiring process and giving illustrators the recognition they deserve are among the most fundamental changes the industry needs to make now, delegates at The Bookseller's FutureBook conference heard. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-17 02:31:32 UTC ]
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What is Chirp? How does it differ from other services like Audible? And, is it worth getting? Learn more in our Chirp audiobooks review! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-11-13 11:34:00 UTC ]
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“African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song,” edited by Kevin Young, contains an overwhelming amount of variety and history. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-11-10 20:51:39 UTC ]
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Former Trapeze senior commissioning editor Katie Ellis-Brown is now working for HarperNorth as the new imprint's editor-at-large. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-10 09:32:12 UTC ]
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Literature funding has been cut brutally in recent years and writers' incomes are disastrously low. Yet books shape our national identity, forming an often invisible bedrock for the wider economy. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-11-08 19:05:31 UTC ]
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Debut author of Yinka Where is Your Huzband, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, and her editor Katy Loftus at Penguin, dish the dirt on the reality behind the dream of being published. THE AUTHOR: LIZZIE DAMILOLA BLACKBURN Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 21:40:55 UTC ]
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Jeremy Irons and George MacKay are starring in a feature adaptation for Netflix of the Robert Harris spy thriller Munich (Hutchinson), with shooting already under way. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-03 16:59:08 UTC ]
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Joan Bingham, longtime executive editor of Grove Atlantic and a key figure in the merger that created the house, died October 31. She was 85. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Oneworld imprint Rock the Boat has signed a "unique and compelling" YA thriller and coming of age story centred on a Native American girl, Firekeeper’s Daughter, by debut author Angeline Boulley. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-01 23:11:25 UTC ]
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Foster Huntington’s follow-up to “Van Life” is a both a celebration and a cautionary tale. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-30 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder Studio has pre-empted a "captivating and joyous" debut novel from Buzzfeed editor and writer Tomi Obaro, set in Lagos and following the evolving fates of three best friends. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-30 07:36:18 UTC ]
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