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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[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: July 7, 2014

Ann Lawson has been appointed head of Publishing Technology’s ingentaconnect division. Prior to joining Publishing Technology, Lawson spent seven years at EBSCO Information Services where she served most recently as senior director. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mobile Ads Will Surpass Print and Radio This Year

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[ AdWeek | 2014-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sportswriter Simon Barnes leaves The Times after 32 years

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[ The Guardian | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: June 27, 2014

Sandra Bishop, v-p of MacGregor Literary, is leaving the company to become an independent agent. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: June 26, 2014

Tom Cox has been appointed v-p, adult mass merchandise and distributor sales at Penguin Random House. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: June 24, 2014

Patrick Janson-Smith has joined London-based digital publisher Apostrophe Books as editor-at-large. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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PW Talks with Don Piper: '90 Minutes in Heaven' Celebrates 10 Years

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: June 23, 2014

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pew: 54,200 Newspaper, Magazine Jobs Axed Since 2003

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon cuts delays on JK Rowling novel after consumer pressure

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[ The Guardian | 2014-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: June 20, 2014

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Job Moves: June 19, 2014

Amy Stolls has been appointed director of literature for the National Endowment for the Arts . Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forbes Readership Spikes 20 Percent in One Year

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[ Folio Magazine | 2014-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mary Higgins Clark to Collaborate on New Novel

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: June 17, 2014

Carolyn Foley has joined the Penguin Random House in-house Legal group as v-p, associate general counsel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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Job Moves: June 16, 2014

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Job Moves: June 12, 2014

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