Will social media and aggregated preferences sweep away book reviewing and literary culture? There’s nothing new about the death of literatureThe writer Caleb Crain is unhappy about “the intrusion of counting into the life of literature”. He believes that big data and predictive-taste algorithms are cutting humans “out of the loop”, and that social media are undermining our faith in “the mental states of other people” when those inner states aren’t acknowledged in tweets and likes. It seems we are mired in “a new kind of disenchantment”, he says, which is devolving our sense of literary merit. As big data blurs personal opinion into preference aggregates, and as Twitter-propelled article-surfing destroys reviewing communities and the authority of critics alike, Crain contends, we have no choice but to “declare war on counting”. So that, you know, “literature will survive”. Related: Computer says no: Amazon uses AI to combat fake reviews Bad criticism in public is a nuisance. Does it spell the end of days? Hardly [S]uddenly the cosmos seems like one vast plan after all, patterned in such a way that the novel you’re reading at bedtime connects to your astronomy lecture, connects to what you heard on NPR, connects to what your friend discusses in the cafeteria at lunch – and then briefly it’s as if the lid has come off the world, as if the world were a dollhouse, and you can glimpse what it would be like to see it whole, from above – a vertiginous magnificence. Continue... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#literary merit
A large-format photo book reveals the toll of industrialization on the landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-05 09:00:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
#sub-saharan africa
#photo book
As Lambda’s Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices returns to an in-person format this summer, previous retreat participants look back on the experiences as a crucial moment in their development as queer authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#in-person format
#crucial moment
#queer authors
Now a co-founder of Semafor, formerly of Politico, BuzzFeed and the New York Times, the author expertly pulls readers inBen Smith is a willing passenger on the rollercoaster also known as the internet. He reported for Politico, was founding editor-in-chief at BuzzFeed News and did a stint as a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-29 06:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#buzzfeed news
#ben smith
#keen eye
#sharp wit
#tucker carlson
#penguin random house
Stirring speeches by Michael Connelly and Crime Writers of Color cofounder Kellye Garrett were a highlight of this year's Edgar Awards, where 'Notes on an Execution' by Danya Kukafka was named best novel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#michael connelly
#crime writers
#danya kukafka
Amazon's cost-cutting efforts led to higher earnings in the first quarter, but its online revenue was flat compared to the first quarter of 2022. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#flat compared
I have loved reading science fiction since age ten, when my school librarian handed me a copy of Jill Patton Walsh’s The Green Book. I fell in love with romance after reading Jane Eyre, which my uncle gave me. When I became a writer, my focus was on the former, but my stories often include […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-26 08:52:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#space operas
#science fiction
In this excerpt from ‘Gunflight,’ Ryan Busse, a former firearms exec turned gun-safety activist, explores the industry’s response to America’s first high-profile school shooting, and the shift to today’s radicalized gun landscape. Ryan Busse is a former firearms executive who spent 25 years at... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-04-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ryan busse
#joe biden
#presidential campaign
In “Affinities,” his latest book of essays, the critic Brian Dillon meditates on images by photographers, filmmakers, dancers and other artists, exploring their attractions and affiliations. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-25 09:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
#brian dillon
Ava Chin’s memoir is an expansive family history encompassing perilous journeys, sensational crimes and social change. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-24 12:37:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
#social change
#memoir
Reported detention of Li Yanhe has echoes of 2015 disappearances of five Hong Kong booksellersConcerns are mounting for a Taiwan-based book publisher believed to have been detained in China, in a case that has echoed the disappearances in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers.Li Yanhe, also known... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-24 10:09:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#li yanhe
#visit relatives
#book publisher
Bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, Romantic Comedy, which begins behind the scenes at a television show similar to Saturday Night Live, where a female comedy writer is gobsmacked that her schlubby straight male... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-20 08:53:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#curtis sittenfeld
#iowa writers
#whitney terrell
#romantic comedy
#bestselling author
A BookToker offers a quick disclaimer before a negative review to head off some anticipated complaints in the comments... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-19 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
Just like that, a new Harry Potter game is on its way. On Monday, WB Games revealed Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, a title the Hogwarts Legacy publisher is billing as a “fast-paced, competitive multiplayer” game that will be available on PC and consoles. According to the company, Unbroken... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-04-17 22:37:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#justice league
#transphobic views
#hogwarts legacy
#harry potter
Her new memoir finds the 90-year-old singer-dancer hungry for acclaim, but generous to others on her way to getting it. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-17 09:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#chita rivera
#memoir finds
#book review
#memoir
The latest celebration of emerging literary talent brings thrills, charm and emotional punch to the page. But this new generation have taken an inward turn compared with the more worldly themes of bygone yearsEvery decade since 1983, an editor of the literary quarterly Granta has tasked a panel... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-16 06:00:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#eleanor catton
#derek owusu
#sigrid rausing
#literary fiction
#novelists
In “Stalking Shakespeare,” Lee Durkee describes his quest to find a true, authentic image of the famous playwright, a search that becomes a tragicomic tale in its own right. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-15 09:00:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
#memoir
The journal’s once-in-a-decade selection of the best fiction writers under 40 has broadened its selection of 20 to include authors who ‘regard the UK as their home’Granta magazine’s Best of British Novelists list, which hails the literary stars of the future, has this year expanded to include... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 07:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fiction writers
#granta magazine
#british passport
#happening today
#luke neima
#deputy editor
#debut novelist
#ian mcewan
#salman rushdie
#zadie smith
#kamila shamsie
#first novel
#novelists
Did you ever want to see how the creators of Wallace and Grommit would handle the Star Wars universe? You're about to get your chance. Disney has released a trailer for Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, and it includes a peek at Aardman's short film "I Am Your Mother." To no one's surprise, it... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-04-10 15:13:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#star wars
#short film
#wider selection
#storytelling formats
#fresh takes
#anthology
Jeff Boyd’s searching debut novel portrays a Black musician alienated from his city, his faith and his past. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-10 09:00:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
#debut novel
Pollack, who created the first mainstream transgender superhero, Kate Godwin, had been fighting Hodgkin’s lymphomaRachel Pollack, award-winning author, leading authority on tarot and the occult, trans activist and comic-book writer who created the first mainstream transgender superhero, has died... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-08 10:45:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#rachel pollack
#speculative fiction
#short stories
#clarke award
#science fiction
#comic book