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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The Good Muslim, The Marriage Plot and Go the F**k to Sleep are among the books literary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 14:56 Classics including Pride and Prejudice and A Tale of Two Cities, as well as more recent bestsellers such as Room and Misery, will be among the 25 titles given out at next year's World Book Night. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 27/09/2011 - 15:27 Julian Assange's controversial memoir failed to make the charts after three days on sale, as printed books continue their September struggle. According to Nielsen BookScan data, sales were down 9% year-on-year. In total, £29.5m... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 22/09/2011 - 11:01 Faber is to publish a new detective novel from P D James which combines a murder investigation with the world and characters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, revisiting Darcy and Elizabeth six years into their... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 13/09/2011 - 09:12 Joanna Trollope is to write a contemporary reworking of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility as part of a new series to be published by HarperFiction. Publishing director Louisa Joyner bought world rights from James Gill at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 12/09/2011 - 15:41 Gollancz is hoping to reignite interest in the adventure game books of the 1980s after buying two books by a self-published author. Editor Marcus Gipps bought world rights to two books in the DestinyQuest series by Michael J... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Tue, 06/09/2011 - 11:18 Previous Man Booker Prize for Fiction winner Alan Hollinghurst has missed the shortlist for this years prize, which includes two debutsStephen Kelman and A D Miller and a wealth of titles from indies. Bookies favourite and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 15:22 Aurum is publishing a memoir by the late actress Elisabeth Sladen, best known for her tole as Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who. Aurum editor Sam Harrison had approached Sladen directly, buying world rights to the book directly... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 11/08/2011 - 08:55 Virago has acquired a second book by Paula McLain, author of this year's The Paris Wife, which told the story of Ernest Hemmingway's first wife. Associate publisher Ursula Doyle acquired UK and Commonwealth rights,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 29/07/2011 - 15:25 Bath-based independent Palazzo is to publish illustrated editions of Jane Austen's novels to mark the bicentenary of their original publication. The Bath Bicentenary Editions will launch with Sense and Sensibility, first... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Tue, 19/07/2011 - 11:21 Puffin is reviving Willard Price's Adventure series, which will be penned by Henry Tumour author Anthony McGowan, after signing a deal with his estate. Publisher Amanda Punter and executive editor Shannon Park bought world... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 10:35 Granta has bought world rights in a book by psychoanalyst and Goldsmiths professor of literature Josh Cohen. Senior editor Bella Lacey signed the deal with Sarah Ballard at United Agents. Grant will publish The Private Life by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Haymarket Business Media (HBM), the UK's digital publisher of the year*, has named Jane Macken as its managing director. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 01/06/2011 - 14:53 James Bond has failed in his latest mission: to top the bestseller charts. Despite a bargain £5 deal at Tesco (75% off the £19.99 r.r.p.), sales of Jeffery Deaver's 007 novel, Carte Blanche (Hodder & Stoughton), were... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jane Pratt, former editor-in-chief of Sassy and Jane magazines, has been named editor and creative director of style with SAY Media. In this new role, she will be acting as editor-in-chief for xoJane.com, a new womens-interest site owned by SAY. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the days after Sidney Harmans death (due to leukemia complications) on April 13th, the media speculated who would replace him in the role of Newsweek chairman. General responses to the question maintained that the position would remain in the family. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 15:06 Dulwich Books has invested nearly £10,000 on a revamp to increase book space and create a new area for events. The owner Sheila OReilly said the redesign made her books more accessible for customers to buy and browse and she... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 11/02/2011 - 07:59 The estate of the romance writer Barbara Cartland has fallen to the embrace of digital, in a move that sees her print publisher suffering a painful rejection. About a quarter of Cartland's extensive ouevre is to be published... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While magazine Web sites are starting to take a back seat to other channels that reach readers on a daily basis (such as Facebook and Twitter) they remain the centerpiece for many publishers' digital strategies. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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