A deliciously original study of the cheap editions of Pride and Prejudice and other novels – ignored by literary scholars – casts new light on her readershipJane Austen aficionados think that they know the story of their favourite author’s posthumous dis-appearance and then re-emergence. For half a century after she died in 1817, her books were little known or read. A few discriminating admirers such as George Henry Lewes and Lord Macaulay kept the flame of her reputation burning, but most novelists and novel readers were oblivious to her. Then, in 1869, her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh published a memoir about her and the public got interested. Her novels started being republished and widely read. She has never looked back.Janine Barchas’s The Lost Books of Jane Austen puts us right. Her book about books is a beautifully illustrated exploration, indeed compendium, of the popular editions of Austen’s novels that have appeared over the last two centuries. This includes those decades when Austen was supposedly lost from sight. The first chapter is a “vignette” on a copy of Sense and Sensibility, published in 1851 for George Routledge’s Railway Library (books suitable for reading on the train). It cost one shilling and was bought for the 13-year-old Gertrude Wallace, the youngest daughter of a Plymouth naval officer. It is the first of many examples of cheap and popular editions of Austen’s work that kept it alive for ordinary readers and that literary scholars have... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-12-11 07:30:31 UTC ]
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... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-27 12:30:00 UTC ]
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Since the publication of his first novel in 1999, Colson Whitehead has become one of the most lauded, prized, taught, and studied American novelists writing today. Winner of the National Book Award, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize (the only writer apart from William Faulkner and John... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-21 09:40:53 UTC ]
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Blake Butler's first reaction to his wife's death by suicide was silence. Then he wrote the stark, indelible and beautifully written memoir, "Molly." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-20 23:16:54 UTC ]
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Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover for the memoir Loose of Earth by Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn, which will be published by University of Texas Press on April 16, 2024. Preorder the book here. Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn was the oldest of five children, a twelve-year-old from... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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“I have a lot of books on near-death experiences, psychic phenomena and past-life regression on my shelves,” says the two-time poet laureate, whose new book is the memoir “To Free the Captives.” “These kinds of books nudge me to remember our world is but one facet of an enormous continuity.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-16 10:00:11 UTC ]
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Novelists and poets, Bernardine Evaristo, Jeanette Winterson, Stephen Marche and others, consider the threats and thrilling possibilities of artificial intelligenceChatGPT seems to have blindsided us all. In less than a year it has proved that it can make writers redundant, which is one of the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-11 09:00:30 UTC ]
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Erin French has the #7 book in the country with 'Big Heart Little Stove,' which follows her cookbook 'The Lost Kitchen' and memoir 'Finding Freedom.' Plus the Fonz writes about 'Being Henry,' and a new hockey romance skates onto our list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Read rapid-fire interviews with (almost) all the finalists for the 2023 National Book Award, before next week’s ceremony. | Lit Hub Is twinship the ideal relationship? Helena de Bres investigates. | Lit Hub Memoir A Gilded Age Kardashian: Why Apple TV+ made a mistake in passing on Sofia... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-08 11:30:33 UTC ]
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Amy Schneider’s new memoir is honest and so very reasonable. The Jeopardy! winner shares insight and experiences in her new memoir. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2023-11-08 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Jami Nakamura Lin begins with a warning: “In the presence of a story—if the story is a good one—time collapses.” This is precisely what she achieves in a genre-bending memoir that collapses past and present, personal and mythical. The Night Parade begins with her attempts to trace the origins of... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephanie Land’s new book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, is out today, so we asked her a few questions about her routine, writing advice, and how she deals with writers block. Who do you most wish would read your book? Anyone who has authority over a person who... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-07 09:50:56 UTC ]
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Britney Spears's memoir sold 1.1 million copies in its first week. Here are some other recent celebrity memoir sales numbers. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-11-02 14:55:52 UTC ]
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Hannah Lillith Assadi on losing home, identity, and her father: “I wonder what it is I have inherited from him more profoundly: his Palestinian-ness or his propensity to fall?” | Lit Hub Memoir At the Refocus Film Festival, Kristen Roupenian and director Susanna Fogel talk about adapting “Cat... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-02 10:30:44 UTC ]
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“I read them the way that people surf the internet today, maybe,” says the Wilco frontman, whose new memoir is “World Within a Song.” “So I know everything.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-02 09:00:33 UTC ]
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In its first week on sale in the U.S., the pop star's debut memoir sold a total of 1.1 million copies across pre-orders, sales of print books, e-books, and audiobooks formats, according to publisher Gallery Books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Snippets of Michelle Williams’s narration of Britney Spears’s new memoir have proved explosively popular online. But what goes into selecting a celebrity reader for an audiobook? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-01 22:47:54 UTC ]
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Stephanie Land's second memoir, 'Class,' a sequel to her blockbuster debut, 'Maid,' follows her journey to get an education — and holds readers at a distance. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-31 10:00:21 UTC ]
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The 90s were a decade of carefree optimism and comically low stakes. Matthew Perry’s death brings us crashing back into the now In 2004, the author Damian Barr published Get It Together: Surviving Your Quartlerlife Crisis. Barr would go on to write poignant and beautiful books (including the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-10-30 18:37:24 UTC ]
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In “The Woman in Me,” the pop star mines her extraordinary story for generic lessons. But the details speak for themselves. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2023-10-29 19:33:11 UTC ]
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The celebrity memoir is booming. But while such books have become part of entertainers' brand management, the focus on salacious details poses risks. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-10-28 08:00:00 UTC ]
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