Categorising fiction may help to sell books, but it says little about how writers write or readers readIn her Reith lecture of 2017, recently published for the first time in a posthumous collection of nonfiction, A Memoir of My Former Self, Hilary Mantel recalled the beginnings of her career as a novelist. It was the 1970s. “In those days historical fiction wasn’t respectable or respected,” she recalled. “It meant historical romance. If you read a brilliant novel like I, Claudius, you didn’t taint it with the genre label, you just thought of it as literature. So, I was shy about naming what I was doing. All the same, I began. I wanted to find a novel I liked, about the French Revolution. I couldn’t, so I started making one.”She made A Place of Greater Safety, an exceptional ensemble portrayal of the revolutionaries Danton, Robespierre and Desmoulins, but although the novel was completed in 1979, it wasn’t published until 1992 – widely rejected, as she later explained, because although she thought the French Revolution was the most interesting thing in the world, the reading public didn’t agree, or publishers had concluded they didn’t. She decided to write a contemporary novel – Every Day Is Mother’s Day – purely to get published; A Place of Greater Safety emerged only when she contributed to a Guardian piece about writers’ unpublished first novels. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-27 12:30:00 UTC ]
Tasha Jun's memoir shares how she came to reconcile her complex heritage Korean and American heritage and her Christian faith. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Comics artist and novelist MariNaomi tackles a puzzle in the memoir 'I Thought You Loved Me': Why did a best friend dump them? Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-05 13:00:54 UTC ]
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“Too distasteful, too sordid, and too shameful.” Pauline Harmange on why she needed to write about her abortion. | Lit Hub Memoir Janet Steen on mourning the end of her brother’s story. | Lit Hub Elissa Suh reviews the forlorn, faithful new adaptation of Paolo Cognetti’s award-winning novel The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-05 10:30:33 UTC ]
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Detention of publisher Li Yanhe in China for ‘endangering national security’ has sent chills through island’s literary communityIn a bookstore near one of Taipei’s leading universities, Zeng Da-fu and his wife work quietly into the evening. Zeng has run this store for decades, tucked in a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-29 02:00:23 UTC ]
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“I adopted Fuck This Shit as my motto during the Trump administration and find it applies to something new every day.” Abigail Thomas on getting a (superb) tattoo at 80. | Lit Hub Memoir McKayla Coyle recommends sapphic reads for every occasion (like if “you’re a sad girl, or a hot girl, or a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-27 10:30:50 UTC ]
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“I learned at a very early age that I wouldn’t be getting from my mother what most kids get from their mothers.” Lucinda William recalls the turbulence of growing up with a sick mother. | Lit Hub Memoir Diksa Bashu on learning to cook as an adult—and how returning to her grandmother’s Delhi... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-26 10:30:07 UTC ]
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If its true that William took a payoff from Murdoch and the royals struck a peace deal, they seem willing to surrender reputations cheaplyPrince Harry has long alleged that the royal family – “the Institution”, as he calls it – is locked in a trap of appeasement with the tabloid media. In their... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-25 16:54:24 UTC ]
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Ava Chin’s memoir is an expansive family history encompassing perilous journeys, sensational crimes and social change. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-24 12:37:54 UTC ]
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A Q&A with Jonathan Rosen, whose new book, The Best Minds, delves into a fraught friendship and the societal response to schizophrenia Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2023-04-21 18:24:00 UTC ]
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Malala Yousafzai sells a new memoir to Atria, Crown buys an authorized Tupac bio, YA bestseller Mary E. Pearson is set to make an adult debut with Flatiron, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Her 2005 book, “Mozart in the Jungle,” lived up to its subtitle, “Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music,” and was later made into an Amazon TV series. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-19 18:57:28 UTC ]
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Maggie Smith's book "You Could Make This Place Beautiful" explores the meanings behind womanhood, gender roles, family and jobs. Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2023-04-19 09:45:33 UTC ]
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A new memoir traces the three-time Tony Award winner’s life and career working with Balanchine, Robbins and Fosse. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-19 09:00:33 UTC ]
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'The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants' began as a memoir about Orlando Ortega-Medina's exile from a homophobic U.S. How it became an immigration thriller instead Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-04-18 13:00:23 UTC ]
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Shattered, out in 2024, will expand on the material the Buddha of Suburbia author has been sharing on social media from his hospital bed since a fall in Rome last yearThe novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi will publish a memoir in 2024 about the accident that left him paralysed last year.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-18 11:05:08 UTC ]
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Pick your favorite period piece films and drama in this quiz to get a recommendation for a matching historical novel! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-18 10:35:00 UTC ]
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Her new memoir finds the 90-year-old singer-dancer hungry for acclaim, but generous to others on her way to getting it. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-17 09:00:22 UTC ]
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Publication day: 'The IPA continues to quietly do good work in the background' on the freedom to publish and diplomacy, writes Richard Charkin in 'My Back Pages'—his memoir releasing today. The post Charkin: ‘The Challenges of International Diplomacy’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-04-17 04:05:03 UTC ]
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In “Stalking Shakespeare,” Lee Durkee describes his quest to find a true, authentic image of the famous playwright, a search that becomes a tragicomic tale in its own right. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-15 09:00:13 UTC ]
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The singer-songwriter reveals herself in a memoir that captures her adventures with charming rogues, puzzled music executives and her own demons. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-14 16:18:11 UTC ]
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