Rock Stars Stole My Life by Mark Ellen review – misty-eyed, touchingly nerdy memoir

From the mud and thunder of early festivals to Live Aid and Rihanna, music journalist Mark Ellen was usually in the right place at the right timeMark Ellen surveys the happy youngsters comfortably cavorting at Glastonbury, marvelling at Primal Scream beneath a harvest moon. “You bastards,” moans the music journalist and editor, recalling his nascent festival experiences in the early 1970s, of trench foot, scurvy and Van der Graaf Generator. “You don’t know how lucky you are.”Still, there’s a misty-eyed reverence for the past in Ellen’s entertaining memoir of five decades surrounded by music – which is to be expected. This, after all, is the man who launched Mojo magazine after realising there was a potential readership who liked music that was “magical and built to last”. For Ellen, the magic began with the discovery of the Beatles and the Kinks, Small Faces and Chicken Shack. Like a character from Jonathan Coe’s novel The Rotters’ Club, his comfortable 60s and 70s adolescence discussing the meaning of prog is ditched for a squat in Battersea, where he begins to pen florid gig reviews for Record Mirror and NME. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #jonathan coe

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Rock Stars Stole My Life by Mark Ellen review – misty-eyed, touchingly nerdy memoir'

In his memoir, Will Self takes his penchant for erratic journeys to the extreme

“Will” revisits, in the third person, the “Umbrella” author’s struggles with addiction. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-01-29 19:14:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Review: 'Children of the Land' chronicles an immigrant poet's story of hiding in plain sight

In his memoir 'Children of the Land,' poet Marcelo Hernandez Castillo writes of border journeys, family separation and crossing a 'threshold of invisibility.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-01-29 15:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #plain sight #family separation #memoir

Throwing Rocks: An Interview with John Vercher

JOHN VERCHER’S TAUT, impressive debut crime novel, Three-Fifths, follows Bobby Saraceno — a mixed-race man living a lie. Saraceno has spent his life passing as a white man, raised by his racist maternal grandfather in Pittsburgh. Bobby’s kept his true self hidden from everyone, even his fellow... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-01-29 13:30:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #white man #comic book

John Bolton’s memoir probably wasn’t leaked by a heroic assistant editor.

Some very important parts of former national security adviser John Bolton’s forthcoming memoir, The Room Where It Happened: A Washington Memoir (Simon & Schuster, March 17), have leaked. The bit that everyone is talking about confirms that Donald Trump did, in fact, withhold aide to Ukraine... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-27 14:01:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #forthcoming memoir #john bolton #important parts #memoir

Everyone Can Be a Book Reviewer. Should They Be?

“Anyone can be a critic.” It’s a common lament these days now that the book review landscape is changing. English professors and book reviewers in newspapers aren’t the only tastemakers in literary criticism anymore: Goodreads community members, anonymous or top reviewers on Amazon, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-23 09:48:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book reviewer #book reviewers #book review

The dramatic life of Hollywood legend Sidney Lumet

The director’s first biography, by Maura Spiegel, sheds light on the man but may not satisfy film buffs. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-01-17 01:09:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sheds light

Dockrill to launch memoir at London Palladium

The Women of the World (WOW) Festival and Vintage Live have announced a "landmark collaboration" to celebrate the launch of writer and illustrator Laura Dockrill’s memoir What Have I Done? (Square Peg), to "help break the silence around postnatal mental health". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 17:38:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #square peg #memoir

Boxer Crouch's memoir optioned for TV by 'Gentleman Jack' team

Suranne Jones will produce and star in an adaptation of five-time boxing champion Jane Crouch’s memoir The Final Round (Pitch). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-13 13:45:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir optioned #suranne jones #memoir

YA Graphic Novels, Memoirs, and Comics Releasing Winter 2020

Jumpstart your 2020 TBR. with this round up of Spring 2020 YA graphic novel and comics releases! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-01-09 11:39:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #comics releases #graphic novel

Book Culture stores in life or death battle

The embattled independent bookstore Book Culture on Columbus Avenue has been closed, after being served with an eviction notice by its landlord. The move, which took place Tuesday morning, also... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2020-01-08 19:57:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookstore

HarperCollins signs 'life-changing' Ramoutar freezer cookbook

HarperCollins has wrapped up a deal for the "life-changing" freezer-filling cookbook from Shivi Ramoutar. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-08 12:50:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins signs #cookbook #harpercollins

Russia’s Clever Media Group Eyes Asian Markets in the New Year

With ongoing operations in Europe and North America, the Russian children's book publisher will focus in 2020 on Japan, China, and Vietnam. The post Russia’s Clever Media Group Eyes Asian Markets in the New Year appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-01-08 06:30:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post russia #year appeared #russian children #book publisher #children's book

Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch narrates Sam Blake's feminist thriller for Bolinda

Harry Potter actress Evanna Lynch will narrate Irish author Sam Blake's feminist thriller, Keep Your Eyes on Me (Bolinda), billed as "Strangers on a Train” meets “Dial M For Murder”. The deal for world English language audio rights was agreed between Ellis Moore, senior rights and content... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-07 12:05:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #simon trewin #harry potter

Lemn Sissay's memoir shortlisted for Slightly Foxed Best Biography Prize

Lemn Sissay’s account of his childhood in care My Name is Why (Canongate) has been shortlisted for the 2019 Slightly Foxed Best Biography Prize along with Francesca Segal’s story of sitting "vigil" for her premature twins, Mother Ship (Chatto & Windus). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 22:27:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lemn sissay #slightly foxed #biography prize #memoir

Carty-Williams joins Guardian Review as columnist

Candice Carty-Williams has joined the Guardian as a columnist, writing a weekly piece for the paper’s Review supplement about "literature in its many forms" Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 19:55:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #candice carty-williams

Unruly eyes faster growth in tough video ad market after News Corp sale

News Corp, which will get small stake in Tremor, has also entered into three-year partnership for outstream video. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2020-01-06 09:49:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #three-year partnership #news corp

Galway's Kennys Bookshop marks 80 years of trade

The independent family-run Kennys Bookshop & Art Gallery in Galway, Ireland, is celebrating 80 years in business this year after attributing its success to "innovation and experience". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 04:40:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop

Virago pre-empts Chloé Cooper Jones' memoir

Virago has pre-empted Chloé Cooper Jones' "game-changing" memoir about disability as US rights were snapped up by Avid Reader Press in a "major auction". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-03 01:28:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir

Review of the Year 2019: The Bestsellers

With print books selling 191.6 million units for £1.66bn, 2019 became the print market’s fifth consecutive year of growth and its best since 2010 in value terms, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-02 20:35:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #print market #consecutive year #nielsen bookscan #nielsen