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purely to get published; A Place of Greater Safety emerged only when she contributed to a Guardian piece about writers’ unpublished first novels.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 ]
Do you want a historical fiction book club but you don't know where to start? Read inside for some tips and ideas. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-06-08 10:33:00 UTC ]
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The comedian’s memoir was funny. But when the new show based on it tries for something deeper, it sinks into bathos. Continue reading at The New York Times
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In the memoir “James Patterson by James Patterson,” the best-selling author opens up — kind of — about how he came to be such a force in the literary world. Continue reading at The Washington Post
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The actress who became America’s sweetheart in “Dirty Dancing” explores how her looks -- and her alteration of them -- affected her career Continue reading at The Washington Post
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Charles McGrath’s “The Summer Friend” recounts happy days and the gut punch of an untimely death. Continue reading at The New York Times
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In "Mean Baby," "Cruel Intentions" star Selma Blair discusses the very long road to her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis with charm and candor. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
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The best audiobooks 2022 has to offer includes everything from memoir to literary fiction and even poetry. Find your next listen! Continue reading at Book Riot
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'Harvey Weinstein: My Story,' a memoir allegedly written by the convicted producer, went up for sale on Amazon on May 10 but was pulled Friday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
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These novels remind us that people have made horrible mistakes since the beginning of time. (They also contain love, joy and triumph!) Continue reading at The New York Times
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“It is a fact that if you are looking to raise llamas with another person, you are seriously considering a lifelong commitment to each other.” Aileen Weintraub on finding love in upstate New York. | Lit Hub Memoir When everyone in London was trying to learn Marilyn Monroe’s signature, sultry... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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An 18-year-old student and a 98-year-old survivor teamed up to write “Lily’s Promise,” a best-selling memoir of Auschwitz and its aftermath. Continue reading at The New York Times
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This New York City Children’s Theater adaptation of Maya Angelou’s celebrated memoir faces the challenge of faithfully telling a story that encompasses a great deal of pain. Continue reading at The New York Times
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Sisters confront racism with humor, a fantasy novelist delves into short stories, a military history expert salutes the civil rights movement, and a movie star's memoir goes behind the scenes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
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The late night host pointed out a hilarious irony in the new memoir by the former counselor to Trump. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
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“To live with other people is to be responsible for protecting them from your moods. Or perhaps, to protect the delicate gift of your moods from them.” Seema Reza on the joy of being (completely) alone. | Lit Hub Memoir Hilary A. Hallett investigates the romance genre’s radical roots, from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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She was accused of ‘betraying motherhood’ when she was revealed as the author of the Guardian’s Living With Teenagers column. Will her novel about a child with addiction issues reopen old wounds?Few writers have published and been damned with quite the ferocity Julie Myerson was back in 2009 for... Continue reading at The Guardian
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Being fired as an advertising executive freed him to write a blistering memoir about his Southern family and an erotic novel that became a best seller. Continue reading at The New York Times
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Donald Trump's former White House adviser admits in her new memoir that she had a hard time competing with her husband's "new fling." Continue reading at HuffPost
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Shaina Loew-Banayan’s new book, “Elegy for an Appetite,” chronicles fifteen years of the author’s relationship to food, in an irreverent stream of consciousness. Continue reading at New Yorker
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More than a month after revealing the revamped version of PlayStation Plus, Sony has shared the initial lineup of games heading to its new service, covering everything from original PlayStation classics and PlayStation Portable titles to modern hits. The new PlayStation Plus has three tiers,... Continue reading at Engadget
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