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
The Modern Library Torchbearers series, which spotlights women writers throughout history, will reissue four novels by Elaine Kraf, which were originally published between 1969 and 1979. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#originally published
Earlier this month, Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres was banned from the Iowa City Schools. Smiley is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 17 novels, two collections of short fiction, five nonfiction books, and eight books for young adults. She spoke to The Little Hawk, the student newspaper of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-19 09:59:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book banned
#nonfiction books
#jane smiley
#thousand acres
#short fiction
#young adults
#iowa city
#prize-winning author
Should historical fiction stick to the views and opinions of the time, or provide a modern perspective? Here are the pros and cons. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-12-05 11:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#modern sensibilities
#historical fiction
With the publication of Billy and the Giant Adventure (Tundra), celebrity chef Jamie Oliver becomes a children’s book author. In the inventive and inspiring story, a group of friends enter a portal to another world, where they have a wild adventure and meet a menagerie of creatures. Oliver... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book author
#inspiring story
#jamie oliver
#giant adventure
#children’s book
The twin sisters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush published their third picture book this week. They sat down to discuss fighting, writing and chosen family. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-09 10:02:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#picture book
History books she shepherded over 44 years at Alfred A. Knopf won a raft of Pulitzers — seven in all — as well as Bancrofts, though one recipient set off a furious academic debate. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-03 21:36:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#history books
#book editor
Every society, civilization and culture has mythologies and cosmologies; they make up a corpus of ancient and sacred narratives that help give meaning to the world. Passed down through generations, myths educate and clarify our place in a world full of things and forces that are larger than us.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-03 08:30:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#world full
Roxanne Coady talks with John Sargent about his many adventures in book publishing at a time when the industry met many challenges and some of the authors and other characters he worked with along the way. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts!... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-02 08:18:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#john sargent
#book publishing
When I encounter the question “are you a Witch?” my first response is always, “who is asking, and why?” Perhaps there never has been a more loaded noun in the English language. Depending on who is asking, it can be a compliment. Or preamble to torture. Despite its crowded dictionary entry,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-31 08:50:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#english language
With debts of £1bn, this isn’t some ordinary financial asset. The desire to own the papers says more about power than profitSo much has changed in the generation since the Telegraph newspapers and the Spectator magazine were last put up for sale in 2004, including how much money they make. Yet... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-10-19 11:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#spectator magazine
#potential buyers
#audacious plan
#modern britain
#jane martinson
#guardian columnist
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. Andrew talks to John Sargent, author of Turning Pages, about his adventures and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-20 08:10:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#andrew keen
#john sargent
#features conversations
#leading thinkers
#technological issues
#andrew talks
#turning pages
#macmillan publishers
#macmillan
Are you missing lockscreen covers for ebooks you've sideloaded onto your Kindle? Here’s how to fix them in just a few easy steps! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-14 10:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#easy steps
#ebooks
If you're new to the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver, these three reads are an ideal entry point into her work. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-11 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reading pathways
#barbara kingsolver
#prize-winning author
Both in fiction and nonfiction, China's bestseller charts in June reflected readers' deepening interest in national culture and history. The post China Bestsellers June: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Serials appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-07-24 17:26:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ancient wisdom
#bestseller charts
This fall, Running Press cofounder Buz Teacher will release 'Among Friends,' a book featuring more than 100 personal essays by people who had a hand in shaping the book business in America in the latter half of the 20th century. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book featuring
#20th century
#book business
As a fiction writer, I’ve always felt compelled, memoir style, to pore over my life’s timeline. But in a novel, I can erase, revise, smash, crash, reconstruct, and transfigure that squiggly narrative. A novel has no obligation to mirror or represent anything familiar, recognizable, or real. And... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-28 08:52:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#writing fiction
#fiction writer
#felt compelled
#memoir
Oh dear. Earlier this month, Publishers Weekly reported on romance readers’ increased appetite for books with “cinnamon rolls” and “golden retrievers” as their leading men—categories that are exactly what they sound like: “sweet, supportive, and kind” (CR) and possessed of “a warm, floppy energy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-22 14:24:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#romance readers
#publishers weekly
The American author Barbara Kingsolver has become the only writer to win the United Kingdom's Women's Prize for Fiction twice. The post Barbara Kingsolver Wins the UK’s Women’s Prize for Fiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-06-14 18:31:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fiction appeared
#united kingdom
#american author
Succession, shipwrecks, and a romantic comedy top my list of leisure reads Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-06-12 07:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
In the middle of this year’s Summer Game Fest, Geoff Keighley teased a new game with characters from a storied manga artist – and he wasn’t kidding. Sand Land is a new adventure game from Bandai Namco, featuring character design from Akira Toriyama, the man who gave us Dragon Ball’s Goku, the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-06-08 20:02:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bandai namco
#chrono trigger
#quick tour
#release date
#manga