Author of the 1970s cult bestseller Zen and the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceWhen, in 1968, Robert Pirsig, who has died aged 88, sent a synopsis and sample of his novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to 122 publishers, only one showed any interest, and James Landis, the editor who responded from William Morrow, warned him not to expect either a large advance or big sales. But within a month Pirsig set off on his Honda Super Hawk, accompanied by his young son, Chris, and friends John and Sylvia Sutherland, on the 17-day journey from Minneapolis to San Francisco that, six years, two drafts and some 700,000 words later, became the basis of an immediate bestseller. Millions of readers were drawn to this guidebook for the transition of a culture from the rebellious 1960s to the “me generation” of the 70s.George Steiner’s New Yorker review, titled Uneasy Rider, famously compared the book to Herman Melville’s sprawling masterpiece Moby-Dick; other reviewers mentioned Thoreau, whose American transcendentalism also sought to link everyday life and the metaphysical. In a road novel in the spirit of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Pirsig drew on the aphoristic humour of hippy writers such as Richard Brautigan. “Metaphysics is a restaurant where they give you a 30,000-page menu and no food,” he wrote. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#american transcendentalism
#jack kerouac
Back in April, A24 and Rhombus Media optioned the rights to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning debut novel about a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who serves as a communist double agent after the fall of Saigon. The novel is being adapted into a limited... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-07-16 15:33:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pulitzer-winning debut
#park chan-wook
#debut novel
Author and journalist Ann Rinaldi, best known for her painstakingly researched YA historical fiction featuring female protagonists, died on July 1 in Branchburg, N.J.; she was 86. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#historical fiction
Author, editor, and publisher Bernette Ford, a champion of children's books by people of color, died of cancer on June 19. She was 70. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-06-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bernette ford
Prolific children's book author Patricia Reilly Giff died on June 22 at her home in Fairfield, Conn. She was 86. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-06-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#prolific children
#children's book
With his wife, Jean Hollander, he produced an English translation of ‘The Divine Comedy’ that was hailed as a masterpiece. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-06-17 12:20:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#divine comedy
#english translation
In his short life, Howard, the master of the sword-and-sorcery novel, produced hard-boiled mysteries, an occult thriller, a science fiction novel and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-06-09 05:37:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short life
#science fiction
Iconic and groundbreaking author, illustrator, and fine artist Eric Carle died on May 23 in Northampton, Mass. He was 91. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#eric carle
Award-winning author-illustrator Lois Ehlert, known for her signature collage artwork featuring bold colors and crisply cut shapes as well as found objects, died on May 25 at age 86. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#lois ehlert
Joel Friedlander, the author, blogger, book designer, publisher, and publishing industry consultant, died on May 7 of cancer. He was 73. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book designer
#publishing industry
In book eight of the Tracy Crosswhite series, the eponymous detective turns to the cold case files. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#robert dugoni
Jonathan Ball, who died aged 69 on 3rd April, created the finest and bravest publishing house in South Africa. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-17 13:34:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#south africa
Children's book author Constance C. Greene, best known for such notable middle-grade novels as 'A Girl Named Al' and 'Beat the Turtle Drum,' died on April 7 at age 96. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#children's book
He was a founder of Hanging Loose Press, which started as a loose-page poetry journal and became a book publisher as well. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-31 21:53:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book publisher
Longtime children's book editor Norma Jean Sawicki died on March 4 at her home in Manhattan; she was 78. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#longtime children
#children's book
Children’s author Beverly Cleary, whose stories featuring such endearing and enduring characters as Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins elevated her to iconic status, died March 25 at 104. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#beverly cleary
#enduring characters
#ramona quimby
Revered children's book editor and author Ann K. Beneduce, who had a guiding hand in launching the careers of Eric Carle and many other authors and illustrators, died on March 18 in Princeton, N.J. She was 102. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book editor
#guiding hand
#eric carle
#children's book
Children's book creator Joan Walsh Anglund, widely known for her instantly recognizable images of sweet-faced, dot-eyed children, died on March 9; she was 95. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#children's book
David Kotick, a pioneer in international sales and marketing for B&T and Bantam Doubleday Dell, died March 8 from complications from a stroke. He was 94. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#international sales
Editor, publisher, education reformer, and founder of 'Cricket' magazine Marianne Carus died on March 3 at her home in Peru, Ill. She was 92. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Carl Apollonio, who retired as v-p and director of sales of Crown Publishers in 1990, died on January 24. He was 91. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#crown publishers