The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne – the ‘modern Jane Austen’?

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 ]
News tagged with: #frederick forsyth #contemporary literature #philip larkin #future books #delivery charges #novelists #jonathan cape

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Bringing classics to the modern reader

We spoke to Legend Press' managing director Tom Chalmers about its second set of Classics, publishing this June.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘A fun adventure, not a business’: The Weather Channel stopped publishing video on Facebook

The Weather Channel is no longer actively publishing videos to Facebook due to a lack of meaningful revenue and Facebook's tendency to routinely shift its priorities. The post ‘A fun adventure, not a business’: The Weather Channel stopped publishing video on Facebook appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook due #facebook appeared #weather channel #meaningful revenue


Octopus and GQ partner on 'handbook for the modern man'

Mitchell Beazley has acquired a book by the senior commissioning editor of British GQ, Charlie Burton, pitched as "the definitive handbook of skills for the modern man". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mitchell beazley #acquireda book


Dennis Quaid to narrate The President is Missing audiobook

American actor Dennis Quaid, who played Bill Clinton in the 2010 TV movie "The Special Relationship", has been cast to narrate the audiobook of The President is Missing by James Patterson and Clinton. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ALLi: Blockchain the missing link

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is exhibiting at LBF for the first time and has launched a white paper which claims that the development of blockchain technology could revolutionise the book industry. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #blockchain technology #white paper #book industry


Kohl’s and Paula Deen Make Memorable Ad Impressions in Food Magazines

Christoph Waltz for Dom Pérignon and KitchenAid also claim high recognition scores in GfK MRI's consumer ad recall study. The post Kohl’s and Paula Deen Make Memorable Ad Impressions in Food Magazines appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2018-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #gfk mri


Author Jane Harper makes Australia a full-fledged character in 'The Dry'

Former journalist Jane Harper has become one of the world's leading mystery writers with her "Aaron Falk" mysteries set in distant corners of Australia. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vinegar book wins 2018 Jane Grigson Trust award

Food writer and historian Angela Clutton has won the 2018 Jane Grigson Trust Award for her "fascinating and unique" book The Vinegar Cupboard (Absolute Press). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Modern Luxury Appoints New Editors-in-Chief | People on the Move

The New Inquiry's Rachel Rosenfelt joins The New Republic as its next publisher and VP, and more people on the move this week. The post Modern Luxury Appoints New Editors-in-Chief | People on the Move appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2018-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Android news from MWC 2018: 8 intriguing announcements you may have missed

Mobile World Congress 2018 is officially in the books and to the surprise of no one, the Galaxy S9 stole the show. From the AR Emoji to the Super-Slow-mo camera and recycled design, people couldn't stop talking about Samsung's latest flagship phone. And that means a lot of other announcements... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2018-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blackie pens modern myths and fairytales

September Publishing has signed mythologist and psychologist Sharon Blackie’s fictional collection of literary reworkings of myth and fairy tales. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury and Mitchell Beazley vie for Jane Grigson award

Two Bloomsbury titles are to battle it out for the Jane Grigson Trust Award alongside a title from Mitchell Beazley. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Women better represented in Victorian novels than modern, finds study

Analysis finds proportion of female authors and characters fell after 19th century, with male authors remaining ‘remarkably resistant’ to writing women Women in novels have tended to “feel”, while men “get”; women smile or laugh, while men grin or chuckle. An analysis of more than 100,000 novels... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #early 1960s #steady decline #english-language fiction #stories related #pushing back


Murray to explore 'taboos of modern age'

Douglas Murray has signed a deal with Bloomsbury for a book exploring the taboos of the modern age. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MacLehose marks 10th anniversary with 'adventurous reading' promotion

MacLehose Press is celebrating turning 10 this year with a 10-month promotion with bookshops and libraries that aims to help readers make fresh discoveries in international fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quiksilver CEO is missing: His boat washed ashore in France, empty

French authorities have deployed boats and helicopters off the coast of southwest France to search for Pierre Agnes, the chief executive of sportswear maker Boardriders Inc. — the parent of the Quiksilver, Roxy and DC Shoes brands — after his empty boat was found washed ashore. The port authority... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador snaps up Paula Saunders' debut novel

Picador has acquired a "funny and tragic" debut novel about 1960’s rural America by Paula Saunders, the wife of Man Booker Prize-winning George Saunders. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Virago Modern Classics marks 40 years with anniversary series

Virago is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Modern Classics series with the publication of 13 "deluxe" illustrated paperbacks, showcasing authors such as Muriel Spark, Angela Carter and Patricia Highsmith. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK: Specsavers Awards, Based on Sales, Honor Paula Hawkins, Philip Pullman, More

Roughly 60 Specsaver Bestsellers were fêted overnight (January 25) at London's May Fair Hotel, with Nielsen Book determining which titles sold 250,000, 500,000, and 1 million units in 2017. The post UK: Specsavers Awards, Based on Sales, Honor Paula Hawkins, Philip Pullman, More appeared first... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fire and Fury just misses out on number one as Kerridge soars

In a stunning move, Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight for Good (Absolute) has held on to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, despite a robust challenge from the book that rocked the White House, Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury (Little, Brown). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tom kerridge #lose weight #good absolute #white house #michael wolff