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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PW talks with two authors about death, joy, and their new, accessible version of the 8th-century "Tibetan Book of the Dead." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Their young audience made them the envy of the media’s old guard. But, ultimately, they couldn’t convert this into profitAfter Rupert Murdoch invested tens of millions of pounds in his digital publishing company in 2013, Shane Smith, boss of Vice Media, laughed at how much old media companies... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 07:00:50 UTC ]
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author is just one of many artists from Appalachia who are probing the crisis in their work, while taking pains to ensure that it doesn’t define the region and its people. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-05-17 12:40:39 UTC ]
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Get your fill of space adventures, AI hunks, and shipworthy pairings with these science fiction romance books like The Red Scholar's Wake. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-28 10:36:00 UTC ]
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SYNC, an annual summer audiobook program for teens, is back to provide 28 free audiobooks from April to August. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-24 10:37:00 UTC ]
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Get involved in a book club with this roundup of what all of the online book clubs are reading in April. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-10 10:36:00 UTC ]
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While many Potterheads celebrated reports of HBO Max show, some feel it would be tainted by JK Rowling’s stance on genderAt Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross station, Harry Potter devotees from around the world gathered to take their picture in front of one of the book’s most celebrated... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-09 14:00:03 UTC ]
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Bestseller lists of recent years have shown that our interest in the tales of the ancient Greeks is still going strong after three millennia, and even experiencing a renaissance. This is a testament, I think, to the timelessness of their content: the deeply human passions and agonies that they... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-24 09:52:27 UTC ]
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Reduced ad spends due to rising inflation and higher interest rates have battered Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerateMedia conglomerate News Corp said on Thursday that it would cut 1,250 jobs after it missed estimates for second-quarter earnings due to weakness in its news and digital real... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-02-09 22:30:39 UTC ]
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PW caught up with the famous lexicographer to talk about the recently published Fifth Edition of his essential guide—and his lifelong fascination with the English language. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Duffer Brothers, creators of the Netflix hit 'Stranger Things,' were big fans of the Choose Your Own Adventure middle grade series and a tie-in based on the fourth season of the show is coming from Random House in April. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s January and you know what that means—a reset for your TBR pile! There are so many amazing books to look forward to in 2023, but before we get too far into the new year, I think it’s worth spotlighting some of the titles you might have missed last year. And 2022 was an incredible […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-01-27 12:05:00 UTC ]
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An updated version of the author and preacher’s classic My Utmost for His Highest from Our Daily Bread Publishing is set to reach a new generation of readers. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-27 05:00:00 UTC ]
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If you thought "teens can get those $15.99 YA paperbacks from the library," you've missed the fact that book bans mean they can't. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-26 11:38:00 UTC ]
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Kotopia's Ahmed Mahmoud Ibrahim, the International Publishers Association says, was detained in Riyadh in October. The post IPA States Its Concern for a Missing Egyptian Publisher appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-01-25 07:15:19 UTC ]
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To try out the recipes in the new cookbook Fabulous Modern Cookies, I asked the baker I trust the most to join me in the kitchen. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2022-12-23 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Rejoice, Bellowheads: on December 12th, PBS is premiering the first-ever major documentary on Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner Saul Bellow. Directed by Asaf Galay and featuring rare archival footage and interviews with Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, and others, American Masters: The Adventures of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-09 09:54:28 UTC ]
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"Little Fires Everywhere" author Celeste Ng brings her new bestseller, "Our Missing Hearts," to the L.A. Times Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-12-08 22:36:02 UTC ]
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Jane Smiley is a master of plot, with multiple awards for her novels, including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle award for A Thousand Acres (King Lear as set on an Iowa farm circa 1979). She’s also distilled her years of teaching and cultural criticism into a superb writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-06 09:53:58 UTC ]
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"A Dangerous Business," the latest novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley, follows a brothel worker in Monterey investigating disappearances. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-11-30 14:30:40 UTC ]
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