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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Headline has landed a romantic Viking timeslip adventure from Christina Courtenay in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-30 18:19:55 UTC ]
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Writers say a lack of funding and cuts to libraries mean children from disadvantaged backgrounds are missing out when it comes to school visits, after a new report shows that independent schools are far more likely to have welcomed an author in the past year than state schools. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-26 04:33:29 UTC ]
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[caption id="attachment_160793" align="aligncenter" width="820"] Jessica Levenson and Dean Praetorius answering audience questions about SEO[/caption] On June 18, some of the top practitioners in the industry from Atlantic Media, Bonnier, Meredith, TechTarget and Toast Media Group led a... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-06-25 20:52:36 UTC ]
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Can humans learn to listen to the outsiders, the marginalized communities, the downtrodden? This sci-fi author thinks it may be our planet’s best hope. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2019-06-17 04:01:24 UTC ]
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US distribution giant Readerlink LLC has missed the midnight deadline for a rival bid to Waterstones owner Elliott Advisors Ltd for Barnes & Noble, but could still propose a counter-offer. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-14 19:27:47 UTC ]
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Taffy Brodesser-Akner brings to her first novel the currency of a dating app and the wisdom of a Greek tragedy. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-06-13 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Two books examine what makes a ballpark great, and what happened in one of the wildest games ever. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-06-06 15:24:40 UTC ]
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Actor Lilly is at work on an expansive series of haunting picture books with important lessons. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With insights from the pharaohs’ era, Peter Hessler explores today’s chaotic Egyptian society. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-05-31 11:43:10 UTC ]
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It’s been hinted for a while that Microsoft is working on a new operating system for dual-screen and Chromebook-like PCs, and while the software giant has yet to confirm the existence of the rumored "Windows Lite" OS, Nick Parker, Corporate Vice President, Consumer and Device Sales, did drop... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2019-05-29 15:40:30 UTC ]
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Memorial Day weekend is stacked with literary events in and around Los Angeles: a brilliantly named bookstore opens in Long Beach, a new reading series launches in East Hollywood, the annual L.A. Zine Fest brings its DIY circus back to town and a daring variety show gets weird at Stories... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-05-24 15:00:00 UTC ]
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The company, which reports 2.39 billion monthly active users, says it zapped 3 BILLION fake accounts in two quarters alone, and that it caught only “most of them.” Facebook held a press call today to report to the world that it has removed 3 billion fake accounts during the last quarter of 2018... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-05-23 15:50:14 UTC ]
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While the recommendations still must be legislated, Canadian publishing sees light at the end of a tunnel, after years of devastating copyright losses. The post Copyright Advocates Applaud Canada’s Parliamentary Review of Modernization Act appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-05-16 21:20:13 UTC ]
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Sphere has bought a memoir, billed as a "book of adventures for the anxious", from Very British Problems creator Rob Temple. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indies make up half of this year's Wilbur Smith Adventure Prize longlist, with Head of Zeus bagging two nominations for the £15,000 prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Virago Modern Classics has bagged the “searing” first novel from Gayl Jones, hailed as a masterpiece on its initial publication in 1975. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Women's Fiction Prize co-founder Kate Mosse missed last night's celebration for the 2019 award shortlist after being knocked off her bike in central London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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April is a great month for reading — nothing beats settling in with a good book and getting so lost in a novel that you temporarily forget about how much you owe in taxes. May's even better, though. With the the seemingly endless super bloom still speckling California’s hillsides with color, it's... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two of the foremost scholars and researchers in Arabic literature are a couple. And Suzanne and Jaroslav Stetkevych's designation as 2019 Sheikh Zayed Book Award 'Cultural Personalities of the Year' revives an Arabic tradition of honoring families' accomplishments. The post The Zayed Book... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Modern Library Torchbearers series is an ongoing collection of trade paperbacks meant to "honor a more inclusive vision of classic books" beginning this May. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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