Strange Scrawls, by Connor Lee McLean Creative Nonfiction [email protected] Tue, 12/12/2023 - 16:11 Photo courtesy of the authorReading a secondhand copy of Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine, a reader encounters another consciousness in the margins. I’d like to say that I stumbled upon this book on a rainy night as it lay alone in the gutter, but the truth is that a regrettable ex pawned off this paperback like another pretentious thing to eventually jettison. While the front cover still bears the author’s name, it has yellowed from sleek pearl to dusty bone, stippled with innumerable stains that could very well be rheum or nasal mucous from a dozen previous readers. If you’ve ever perused a secondhand bookstore, this fits the description of a typical binding on the shelves. But what distinguishes this old copy of The Mezzanine is the annotations left by a former owner who signed their government name in the cyan of a Crayola marker—like graffiti scribbled on boulders and the ruts of wagon wheels that commemorate those pilgrims who came before to navigate this narrative route. And when I finally embarked on my journey through this slim piece of literature, I found myself veering off course into an unexpected detour that is only to be found in this copy of Nicholson Baker’s 1988 debut novel. While proceeding over the footsteps of an English student whose name came to represent a disembodied intellect, I began to address my... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2023-12-12 22:11:51 UTC ]
BORN IN 1955, raised by Chinese immigrant parents in the predominantly Jewish suburb of Scarsdale, New York, Gish Jen started writing poetry in seventh grade. By high school, she’d become literary editor of her school magazine — and after fellow members of the creative writing club nicknamed her... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-07-08 17:00:10 UTC ]
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Physical book fairs are still vital for business long-term, publishers say, amid expectations that the Beijing Book Fair may be online only this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-30 17:18:56 UTC ]
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HarperCollins and Pan Macmillan have said they won't attend Frankfurt Book Fair's physical event, scheduled to take place in October, while other UK publishers and agents say they are uncertain about whether to go. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-28 12:40:55 UTC ]
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As brands scramble to reimagine their events in the wake of cancellations resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, there is a resurgence of interest surrounding the virtual event space—one that looks a whole lot different than it did 10 years ago. Live broadcasts and on-demand content are... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-03-18 17:30:22 UTC ]
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Physical book sales in Sweden are falling but the take-up of digital subscription services is on the rise, leading to a boost in revenue during 2019, new figures show. Statistics published by trade magazine Svensk Bokhandel showed sales nudged up 1.1% by value and 4.9% by volume in 2019... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-18 15:14:31 UTC ]
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Magazine and newspaper executives may beg to differ, but our love affair with print media has been surprisingly resilient in the digital era. E-book sales have flattened, and physical book sales continue to outstrip the “disruptors” by a wide margin. In fact, as our annual review of “Books for... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-12-18 21:53:27 UTC ]
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In alternating chapters, the twin musicians look back at their tumultuous teen years. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-17 20:37:52 UTC ]
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When I first joined a workshop in 1994, American literary fiction was dominated by and continually lauded a “quiet” kind of writer, one often influenced by J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, or Raymond Carver. I loved literary fiction—I’d been reading, writing, and submitting it since high school.... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-08-16 11:00:22 UTC ]
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Author’s son explains that wish for accessibility has persuaded trustees to look past his father’s dislike of digital mediaAfter years of refusing to allow publishers to digitise his works, the estate of JD Salinger has announced that the author’s famously small body of work will be published as... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-08-12 15:49:19 UTC ]
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The list of basketball players who have participated in a Fairfax-Westchester rivalry game reads like a who’s who of distinguished former high school, college and NBA players from City Section history. From Fairfax, there’s Solomon Hill, Josh and Jerren Shipp, Craig Smith, Evan Burns, Jamal... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Philip Jones reflects on Marie Kondo's new Netflix series and the resilience of the physical book. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A police force in the US has called for The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely to be removed from a high school’s summer reading list, according to news reports. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A booth at Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference in San Jose, Calif. The social network is stopping the experiment known as Explore, which separates news publishers from its main site. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2018-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Snap announced recently that it planned to separate feeds from real-life friends from those of publishers and influencers. For brands, this is a rude awakening.It's clear social media has changed the roles of friends, just like it's changed the role of brands. The average person on Facebook has... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Preliminary numbers are finally out for Hillary Clinton’s newly released book, What Happened, and sales are doing quite well. According to the Associated Press, the book has already sold more than 300,000 copies–which includes hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. The hard copy sales, however, are... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2017-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With three novels coming out this fall, you might never guess that Jason Reynolds didn’t like to read books in elementary school, or even high school. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There are novels that try to transport you, that in the words of Neil Gaiman act as “a dream that you hold in your hand.” If the dream succeeds, you forget the physical book you are holding and travel to Tralfamadore, Wuthering Heights, Wonderland, wherever; you live life through the eyes of the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A young phenom in the making, Brit Bennett, 25, started writing "The Mothers" while still in high school in Oceanside, Calif., finishing it not long ago while a Zell Postgraduate Fellow at the University of Michigan, and polishing it as recently as two months ago. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Website security questions stress me out. How am I supposed to choose and remember a favorite book or favorite teacher? What if I’ve never had a pet? What if my high school’s mascot was a battered bronze lamp that was ceremonially passed from the graduating senior class president to the incoming... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2016-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The technology could one day serve as the basis for a product that embraces the physical book, while adding cool digital content on top.Technology that would bring the experience of reading a book into the 21st century—and not by replacing the book with a computer—was patented today by Google,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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