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 ]
In “The Wild Silence,” a sequel to her best-selling memoir “The Salt Path,” the British author contends with the illness and death of loved ones but finds solace outdoors. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-04-06 09:00:08 UTC ]
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On Friday, Politico published an excerpt from On the House, a forthcoming memoir by John Boehner, the Republican former House speaker, that, in Politico’s words, is the story of “how America’s center-right party started to lose its mind, as told by the man who tried to keep it sane.” The excerpt... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-04-05 12:13:42 UTC ]
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William Morrow preempts a debut novel by Liz Stein, Michelle Tea sells a memoir about the reproductive industrial complex to Dey Street, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Octopus imprint Monoray is to publish Drinking Custard: The Diary of a Confused Mum, a "hilarious" memoir on the trials and tribulations of motherhood from comedian Lucy Beaumont. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-01 13:58:38 UTC ]
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Faber has pre-empted music industry veteran Tony King’s memoir on a nine-minute video submission. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-01 07:02:00 UTC ]
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Lit Lists Earlier this spring, the editors of WLT invited twenty-one writers to nominate one book, published since the year 2000, that has had a major influence on their own work, along with a brief statement explaining their choice. Now it’s your turn... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-31 20:04:23 UTC ]
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In “Beautiful Things,” the president’s son addresses issues that shaped his life and father’s campaign Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-31 07:45:04 UTC ]
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Manifesto will chart the first Black Booker prize winner’s 40-year journey to literary centre-stage and encourage others to pursue creative fulfilmentBernardine Evaristo, the first Black woman to win the Booker prize, is writing a memoir about how she “moved from the margins to centre stage”... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-03-27 09:00:08 UTC ]
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“By relearning his grandmother’s old style of storytelling, Márquez began telling a story unlike any before.” Angus Fletcher on what Gabriel García Márquez understood about rediscovery. | Lit Hub Criticism Are climate change novels a form of activism? Seven novelists weigh in, including Pitchaya... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-24 09:30:49 UTC ]
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This year marks the sixth anniversary of the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international accord that marks the first time nearly every nation on Earth promised to tackle the climate crisis. The goals set by that agreement, however, have not been met. As the climate crisis worsens, more novelists than... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-24 08:53:41 UTC ]
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In “Plunder,” a memoir by Menachem Kaiser, the author tries to repossess a building owned by his grandfather before the war and discovers a history he knew nothing about. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-16 09:00:06 UTC ]
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Pulitzer Prize winner John Archibald reexamines his father’s legacy in this fascinating blend of family memoir and moral reckoning. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-13 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Back in January 2018, freelance journalist Mason began work on a new novel in the little shed in her back garden in Sydney. She already had two books under her belt with HarperCollins Australia, a memoir of early motherhood—the brilliantly titled Say it Again in a Nice Voice—and her début novel... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-12 23:02:14 UTC ]
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Walker Books is to publish Sticky McStickstick, a new personal memoir picture book from Michael Rosen, illustrated by Tony Ross, exploring Rosen's personal experience of illness and recovery from Covid-19. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-12 15:54:55 UTC ]
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A few months ago my friend Nick Lyons, long admired for books about his passion for fishing, published a beautiful memoir, Fire in the Straw. Reading the book has underscored, in a personal way, the gap between life and literature that so many of us take for granted. I’m familiar with quite a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-12 09:48:56 UTC ]
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But “Between Two Kingdoms,” her memoir of cancer and its aftermath, is striking a chord with readers who are enduring ordeals of their own. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-11 10:00:03 UTC ]
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Interviews Photo by Sonette Watt Stephanie McKenzie is a poet and scholar who works for the English Programme at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her scholarly work has traced the flourishing of Indigenous literature in... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-09 21:39:45 UTC ]
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In the memoir “Model Citizen,” Joshua Mohr recounts a life of substance abuse, real love and “cheery nihilism.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-09 10:00:09 UTC ]
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He took his British brand of satire to nightclubs, TV, film (“This Is Spinal Tap”) and National Lampoon. But a memoir led to a sex-abuse accusation. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-05 19:48:46 UTC ]
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Ecco goes big on a debut novel, Kal Penn sells a memoir to Gallery, Brittney Cooper sells seven for seven figures to Scholastic, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
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