The Hatchet Job of the Year doesn't cut it | Alex Clark

This celebration of bookish snark, won by AA Gill for his Morrissey assault, is less daring and less worthy than it thinksIt's the middle of a wet, wet winter, unaccountably you haven't shed the pounds or learnt the cello as per the optimism of 1 Jan, and to make matters even worse, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. No wonder you're feeling bilious; thank God, therefore, that there is a literary prize to match your mood.Last night, the Omnivore's Hatchet Job of the Year award, an annual celebration of unkind book reviewing, went to AA Gill for his piece on Morrissey's Autobiography; on this scant information alone, if the prize were suddenly in need of a new name, we might reasonably suggest the Shooting Fish in a Barrel award. But more of AA presently; for now, let us leave him to enjoy his spoils, a year's supply of potted shrimp donated by The Fish Society (I think the idea is to draw a parallel between the smell of rotten fish and the smell of rotten writing; it might also be an allusion to those possibly apocryphal stories of spurned lovers sewing prawns into the spurners' curtain rods).The Hatchet Job of the Year, previously won by critics Adam Mars-Jones and Camilla Long, is the duck/rabbit of the literary prize season. Viewed one way, what's to dislike? It takes a welcome hatpin to the balloon of literary pomposity; it declares war on the bland book review and the log-rolling backslap. The prize locates itself firmly in the traditions of seductively... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bob Johnston named Irish 'bookseller of the year'

Bob Johnston, owner of The Gutter Bookshop, has won The O'Brien Press Bookseller of the Year Award in Ireland for his “immense” commitment to bookselling. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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You Can Binge on 900 Glorious Minutes of Comic Book Movies This Year

There will be more cumulative hours of comic book movies released this year than in any year in the last decade. The post You Can Binge on 900 Glorious Minutes of Comic Book Movies This Year appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2016-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Iona Grey wins Romantic Novel of the Year

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Neil Gaiman to release non-fiction title this year

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Busy Year for Polish Publishing: BEA, FBM, LBF

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Regional independent bookshop of the year winners crowned

Relative newcomers, shops reinvigorated by new owners and an institution still innovating in its 70th year are among the regional winners of this year’s British Book Industry Awards’ Independent Bookshop of the Year, sponsored by Gardners. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador to publish Brownrigg sequel 20 years on

Picador has acquired Pages For Her by Sylvia Brownrigg, a novel set 20 years on from Brownrigg’s first novel Pages for You. The new novel, set to be released in 2017, will tell the story of Flannery, a wife and mother, who is invited to a writers’ conference and embarks on an affair with the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is this the sexiest book of the year?

'It is astonishing what you can do to women's bodies on a page," says author LS Hilton, cutting an imposing figure with her steely blue eyes, thick cream McQueen jumper and tight blonde ponytail. "You can torture them and flay them - but you can't let a woman actually enjoy her own body. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2016-02-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Protecting Intellectual Property Remains the Top Job for Association of American Publishers

The publishing industry's trade association had a busy year protecting copyright in a changing market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent Bookshop of the Year regional shortlists revealed

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH legal director Peacock to retire after 23 years

Helena Peacock, legal director for Penguin Random House UK and international, is retiring on 30th June after 23 years of service. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alex Marwood signs with Sphere for two more novels

Sphere is publishing two new novels from Alex Marwood, author of The Wicked Girls. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book of the Year judges unveiled

The Pool founder Sam Baker; Robbie Millen and Arifa Akbar, literary editors of the Times and the Independent respectively; authors Viv Groskop and Sali Hughes; and booksellers from Waterstones, Foyles, W H Smith and Booka Bookshop will judge this year’s inaugural Books of the Year awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon creates 500 new jobs in Leicestershire

Amazon is creating 500 new jobs by opening a 1m sq ft fulfilment centre in Coalville, Leicestershire. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Grammy Awards averaged 24.95 million viewers on CBS, off slightly from last year's telecast, according to Nielsen. The TV audience for the ceremony held at the Staples Center, which featured performances by Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Adele and Kendrick Lamar, was 1.5% below the 25.3 million... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones three years from fiscal autonomy despite upturn, Daunt warns

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Celebrating 10 Years of IPG’s Independent Publishing Awards

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After Eight Year Slump, 2015 Bookstore Sales Rise

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eighth Harry Potter book set to be 'publishing event of year'

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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