This excellent cradle-to-grave biography of a much loved novelist who goes in and out of fashion captures her alarming habits and tormented love affairsIn 1971 the author Barbara Pym was at her day job at the International African Institute when she noticed “Mr C” laboriously attacking his lunchtime sandwich with a knife and fork. Pym made a mental note of the detail before asking herself ruefully, “Oh why can’t I write about things like that any more – why is this kind of thing no longer acceptable?” Ten years earlier, Jonathan Cape had dumped her after her sixth book on the grounds that her brand of anthropological observation of English social manners was old lady-ish, dull and didn’t sell. As an extra humiliation, no other publishing house had been interested in picking up Miss Pym: books built on “the daily round of trivial things” could hardly compete with Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal or, if you were feeling fancy, Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Jonathan Cape had even published John Lennon (Pym liked the Beatles, but still). Clearly there was no place in contemporary literature for Mr C and his oddly formal way with a sandwich.There is nothing unusual about major minor novelists having a disappointing and disproportionate decline, followed by a posthumous flowering in reputation and sales. What’s unusual about Pym is that her phoenix moment came while she was still alive. In 1977 the Times Literary Supplement asked well-known... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-04-08 06:30:07 UTC ]
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Macmillan's Children's Books has pre-empted a middle-grade trilogy by debut author Cat Weldon, set in the world of the Norse gods. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-08 07:23:35 UTC ]
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William Collins has scooped an “era defining” history of contemporary Britain from broadcaster and author Andrew Marr. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-31 22:20:47 UTC ]
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We may not be able to escape to bookish destinations right now, but we can be transported by these books about libraries and bookstores. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-05-28 10:39:03 UTC ]
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Head of Zeus is launching Aries, a new action and adventure imprint, in August with books from Brad Taylor, Ethan Cross and Matthew Harffy. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-28 06:04:39 UTC ]
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The Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation has announced the shortlist for the Best Unpublished Manuscript category in the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-28 03:59:23 UTC ]
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Nestled in the heart of Melbourne's city laneways, Leonardo Art Shop - also known as Nibbi's - provided inspiration and education to a generation of young artists. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-05-21 20:00:41 UTC ]
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Naomi Fry on “Miss Aluminum,” a new memoir by Susanna Moore, who is known for her 1995 thriller “In the Cut.” Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2020-05-19 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Inspired by a true story, Amity Gaige’s new novel is a gripping tale of a marriage on the brink Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-08 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Children’s Books will launch Magic Tree House Home Adventures, an online program of activities, crafts, recipes, reading challenges, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-04-24 17:57:06 UTC ]
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Our relationships with characters from books and screen – called parasocial relationships – serve many of the same functions as our friendships with real people, minus the infection risks. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-04-21 03:11:35 UTC ]
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‘”Confessions of a Bookseller’” and other wonderful titles remind us of the joys of shelf-browsing. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-15 15:59:07 UTC ]
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Modern Luxury Media, publisher of more than 40 high-end regional lifestyle magazines, has furloughed a significant number of staffers across the company through at least the end of June as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CEO Michael Dickey—who noted that he and other executives are forgoing... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-04-14 18:53:14 UTC ]
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Long before Tinder, there was Jane Austen, warning your dates and their families that you looked nothing like your picture: in this instance, her subject was Mary Pearson, a portrait of whom has recently been discovered and acquired by Jane Austen’s House museum. Pearson, who likely inspired... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-07 15:55:45 UTC ]
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Talbot Mundy’s “The Nine Unknown,” a 1920s occult thriller, is among several literary gems now in the public domain. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-07 14:00:00 UTC ]
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This week Walker Books launched a family guide to adventure activities 100 Adventures to Have Before You Grow Up, the first children's book by author, adventurer and Girlguiding ambassador Anna McNuff. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-02 13:51:42 UTC ]
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Kawai Strong Washburn’s debut novel envisions an archipelago of Indigenous peoples who refuse to be erased. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-03-31 12:43:39 UTC ]
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The debut novel intersperses the story of a tech reporter in Silicon Valley with Facebook posts, tweets, Google results and other fragments. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling has been my passion for so long, I miss the smell of the books mixed with coffee. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-27 08:29:19 UTC ]
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As many of us transition to working from home in this unprecedented situation, we recognize that you may not be receiving your print copy of Ad Age. We would like to offer you the option to redirect your copy of Ad Age to your home so you can continue to enjoy the magazine in print. To change... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2020-03-24 16:45:00 UTC ]
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As City AM suspends publication, regional print media are coming under increasing pressurePlayboy, the glossy magazine relic of the pre-#MeToo era as well as the occasional publisher of Margaret Atwood, among others, would seem to have little in common with City AM, the business-led freesheet... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-03-22 14:00:08 UTC ]
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