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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Abrams continues to add to its adult-skewing publishing program tied to Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I B Tauris has commissioned a book on the current unrest in China’s Xinjiang region by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Puffin is launching a new list of classic children’s books, with the first 20 titles to hit... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A music publisher is venturing into religion/spirituality with a line of books about the spiritual thoughts of celebrities. Now the company just needs to figure out where it can sell them. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever’s Search for the Truth About Everything" (Twelve, 9781455501762) will appear on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" and NPR’s "Fresh Air" on Tuesday, April 8. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker Books has acquired a middle-grade title from debut author Michael Byrne. Lottery... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lynch, who stars on the TV series 'Glee,' will co-write a story about a little girl who enjoys bullying others until someone takes her on. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#tv series
Follow Your Fantasy promises fresh spin on the genre pioneered in rather less risqué stories in the 1980sA threesome, sex with a stranger or work on a porn film: the choice will be yours, as HarperCollins prepares to launch an erotic version of the Choose Your Own Adventure books which were... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Robertson's daily 365-word stories are a promising idea let down by poor digital designNew Year's Day saw the launch of 365, a collaboration between Scottish writer James Robertson and Hamish Hamilton, a Penguin imprint. It sounded promising: one 365-word story to be published online every... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An authorised biography of novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard by Artemis Cooper will be released in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tributes have been paid to novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, who has died aged 90. Howard, who... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers choose their books of the year, and the ones that got awayRobin Robertson Deputy publishing director, Jonathan CapeThe book that made my year: Many years ago, I was sitting in Blake's bar in Enniskillen with John McGahern and he recommended an American novel from the 60s, written by... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you loved choose your own adventure books as a child - the ones where you had to turn to page 34 to ride the unicorn or page 75 to enter the Cave of Time - you may find the narrative format of the latest DC Comics digital graphic novel familiar. Today, DC launched Batman: Arkham ... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Photographer Iain McKell documents people in England who have voluntarily abandoned mainstream lifestyles in favor of nomadic ones.Photographer Iain McKell first became acquainted with new age travelers 25 years ago on an assignment for the London Observer. Calling themselves the "Peace Convoy,"... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barbara Park, author of the Junie B. Jones series of childrens' books has died, her publisher Random House announced. Park, 66, had ovarian cancer.Barbara Park, author of the Junie B. Jones series of childrens' books has died, her publisher Random House announced. Park, 66, had ovarian cancer. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst Magazines named Jane Francisco the editor-in-chief of Good Housekeeping magazine, the company said Monday, succeeding longtime editor Rosemary Ellis. Ms. Francisco is editor-in-chief of Chatelaine, a women's lifestyle magazine based in Canada. She begins her new job Dec. 2.Ms. Ellis,... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tony Cliff's Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant has been delighting audiences online for years?garnering three Eisner nominations in the process?and at the end of August, it hits print as a 168-page full-color paperback from publisher First Second. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. There may be an iPad version of Choose Your Own Adventure coming, but will it happen or... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Constable & Robinson has said it is "saddened" to hear of the death of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster is to publish Hero, a new book by The Secret author Rhonda Byrne on 19th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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