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 ]
Ian McEwan’s “ambitious and mesmerising” new novel Lessons will be published by Jonathan Cape in September. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-19 02:10:47 UTC ]
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Who is Elena Ferrante? One of the most widely-acclaimed and beloved contemporary novelists is also the most unknown. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-12-29 11:33:00 UTC ]
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When it comes to great novels, this year felt like an embarrassment of riches. The books collected here are ambitious—in intellect, in scope, in subject matter, and in size. Some are perfect encapsulations of the unique problems of our time, while others illuminate the human threads that connect... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-12-16 12:05:00 UTC ]
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It’s safe to say that in general, 2021 was an improvement on 2020—but that doesn’t mean it was a big one. Among the many disappointments of this year was the fact that we lost far too many members of the literary community, from poets to novelists to editors to critics to publishers. To them, we […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-15 09:49:46 UTC ]
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Are there certain books with topics you avoid? That you fear may leave you a little worse for wear? Here's what may happen if you read them. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-12-07 11:38:00 UTC ]
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Novelists and short-story writers have created some classic narratives about man’s best friend, the dog. But what are the very best stories and novels about dogs? Where should we begin in assessing the classic, canonical literature that features dogs? From Homer’s Odyssey onwards – where the... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-12-03 15:00:29 UTC ]
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The following first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. * While writing my first novel, I was hungry for advice, like many young writers, and soaked up tenets like write every day or wake up before work to go to your desk or hit 1000 words every session. But these... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-11-12 09:55:05 UTC ]
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News and Events (c) Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr NORMAN, OKLA. – World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, announced late Tuesday evening that Boubacar Boris Diop is the 27th... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-10-26 21:56:54 UTC ]
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Fiction that lazily predicts a dystopian, ecologically decimated world is doomed to fail; instead novelists must engage on a new level with the climate crisis Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-18 12:54:39 UTC ]
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Granta Magazine has opened submissions for the fifth edition of its Best of Young British Novelists list, to be released in spring 2023. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-13 08:19:00 UTC ]
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Novelists Paula Hawkins, Graham Norton and Alex Wheatle are among the authors writing short, accessible titles for the Quick Reads literacy programme for 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-26 23:05:50 UTC ]
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The four-strong shortlist for this year's Laurel Prize for nature and eco-poetry has been announced, with two nominations for Jonathan Cape titles. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-26 07:25:12 UTC ]
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Novelists Nadia Hashimi and Helen Benedict join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the mistakes American writers and culture made in depicting the United States’ wars Iraq and Afghanistan. In the wake of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and President Biden’s decision to pull US... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-23 08:49:21 UTC ]
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The author of The Fortune Men will now compete with five other novelists from South Africa, Sri Lanka and the US for the 2021 awardAlex Clark explores how the Booker shortlist tunes in to the worries of our ageJust one British author has made the shortlist for this year’s Booker prize: Nadifa... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-14 15:25:06 UTC ]
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There’s something about literary sisters. Siblings offer a unique, complex, and compelling relationship for novelists to explore, so it’s no surprise that so many novels have sisters at their heart. From Jane Austen’s loveable Bennett sisters in Pride and Prejudice, and Louisa May Alcott’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-08-13 08:49:04 UTC ]
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Interviews Emilio Fraia’s Sevastopol, out this summer from New Directions, is the sort of book that beguiles and dazzles in equal measure. Consisting of three disparate stories—of a mountain climber attempting to scale Mt. Everest, a mysterious loner... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-08-09 20:31:30 UTC ]
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In her latest Graphic Content column, Hillary Chute looks at new books from Kristen Radtke and Lizzy Stewart, as well as a first graphic novel from Anne Carson. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-07-29 09:00:05 UTC ]
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In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle ponders the links between famous writers and advertising slogans Fay Weldon, author of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983), is one of several famous novelists who started out in the field of advertising. In this connection... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-07-23 14:00:03 UTC ]
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Historical fiction was once considered a fusty backwater. Now the genre is having a renaissance, attracting first-rank novelists and racking up major prizes. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-06-13 09:00:02 UTC ]
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Romance novelists make their picks for the season, and they run the gamut from sexy to sweet to a little bit murderous. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-05-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
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