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purely to get published; A Place of Greater Safety emerged only when she contributed to a Guardian piece about writers’ unpublished first novels.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 ]
In his memoir “Unprotected,” Billy Porter recounts his lifelong struggle to heal the deep wounds buried under the sheen of his charismatic presence. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-19 09:00:04 UTC ]
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A book that takes place in one day offers immersion in a character’s life and consciousness, with the added resonance of a creative constraint that mirrors our own lived experience of 24 hours with changing light, ticking numbers, and the book-ends of sleep. My attempt to try this in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-19 08:50:02 UTC ]
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Scholastic has swooped on Welcome to St Hell, a "groundbreaking" YA memoir about being a trans teen, written and illustrated by influencer and filmmaker Lewis Hancox. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-18 19:31:24 UTC ]
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Dave Grohl's memoir The Storyteller (S&S) was one of the critics most reviewed this week, picking up mentions in The Bookseller, the Observer, Guardian, Times, Sunday Times and Irish Times. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-17 21:25:03 UTC ]
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The longtime anchor’s memoir settles scores and reexamines some regrettable choices. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-15 07:39:38 UTC ]
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Amor Towles’s 'The Lincoln Highway,' which became this month’s Read with Jenna pick for the Jenna Bush Hager Book Club, hit #1 overall. Plus Grunge god Dave Grohl, the Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman, has the #2 book in the country this week with his memoir The Storyteller'. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Like the complex Philippine history the book aims to depict, there is no single sentence that can sum up Albert Samaha’s Concepcion, especially when he renders that history through the lens of his own diasporic family, dating back to his ancestors’ first encounter with Europeans. Though... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-10-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Historical fiction can remind us that these "unprecedented" times are anything but. Here's what they can teach us about our current crisis. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-10-13 10:38:00 UTC ]
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In “Those We Throw Away Are Diamonds,” Mondiant Dogon, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, recounts a saga of horror, frustration and hope. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-12 09:00:07 UTC ]
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“Concepcion,” by Albert Samaha, combines the epic sweep of global history with an intimate family narrative. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-12 09:00:07 UTC ]
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Scout signs a buzzed-about novel by a Swedish journalist, Norton nabs a memoir by South African Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH imprint #Merky Books has landed the "powerful and deeply moving" memoir by Olympic champion and elite runner Caster Semenya. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-06 10:43:15 UTC ]
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‘When we woke up, the whole ocean was full of broken ice.’ An excerpt from Notes from an Island, with artwork by Tuulikki Pietilä and memoir by Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Teal. The post Notes from an Island appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2021-10-04 05:36:51 UTC ]
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The actor’s new memoir “Taste” explains how a bout with cancer took his passion for ragù and risotto, but also Cuban-Chinese stews and minke whale, to new heights. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-02 09:00:17 UTC ]
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The actor’s new memoir “Taste” explains how a bout with cancer took his passion for ragù and risotto, but also Cuban-Chinese stews and minke whale, to new heights. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-02 09:00:16 UTC ]
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Review of "There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century" by Fiona Hill Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-01 14:45:07 UTC ]
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Dave Grohl has visited London to promote his memoir, The Storyteller, (Simon & Schuster) ahead of its publication on 5th October. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-01 02:55:46 UTC ]
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The response to the criticism of Kate Clanchy’s memoir was a moral failure on the part of white publishing—and an artistic failure too Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-30 18:27:25 UTC ]
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In the memoir “Here, Right Matters,” Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman defends his decision to report President Trump’s call with Ukraine. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2021-09-29 18:40:35 UTC ]
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