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 ]
Comedy writer and actor Daisy May Cooper has written a "wonderful and ultimately uplifting" memoir, Don't Laugh, It Will Only Encourage Her, to be released by Penguin Michael Joseph. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-02 18:28:11 UTC ]
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In “Amoralman,” the sleight-of-hand artist Derek DelGaudio turns to philosophy in an attempt to understand the nature of reality and deception. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-02 16:45:00 UTC ]
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This new play based on Martin McKenna’s memoir tells a difficult story with theatrical skill and artistic heart. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2021-03-01 05:56:16 UTC ]
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At the Guardian, Kazuo Ishiguro discusses his newest book, Klara and the Sun, and how this latest offering echoes themes and ideas he has often explored in his previous work. “Literary novelists are slightly defensive about being repetitive,” Ishiguro says. “I think it is perfectly justified:... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-02-26 21:30:38 UTC ]
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Mrabet was friends with Paul Bowles—and, it’s assumed, lovers, too—and they were artistic collaborators. But his memoir begins long before they met. Continue reading at The Paris Review
[ The Paris Review | 2021-02-26 14:00:30 UTC ]
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“Like so many women novelists of previous centuries, Yezierska’s canonical status is a phenomenon of the recent past.” Catherine Rottenberg on the overdue revival of Anzia Yezierska. | Lit Hub Fashion isn’t frivolous: Francesca Granata recommends books central to our understanding of femininity,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-26 10:30:02 UTC ]
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Allen & Unwin to publish How to be a Rock Star by Shaun Ryder, a memoir that promises to lift the lid on what it's like to be a rock star. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-25 01:13:37 UTC ]
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The bestselling novelist, subject of an upcoming HBO Max biopic and author of the new memoir 'The Soul of a Woman' discusses aging, feminism and home. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-02-24 17:00:12 UTC ]
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Two Roads will publish Billy Connolly's first autobiography, titled Windswept and Interesting. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-24 15:35:50 UTC ]
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A memoir by Where the Crawdads Sing author Delia Owens and her husband Mark Owens, titled Cry of the Kalahari, will be reissued by Corsair in October, 36 years after its first release. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-23 09:02:09 UTC ]
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Skyhorse Publishing, the imprint behind director Woody Allen's memoir, is considering suing HBO for sampling its audiobook for a documentary series. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-02-22 22:46:48 UTC ]
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John Murray Press imprint Two Roads has acquired Devorgilla Days: A Memoir of Hope and Healing by Kathleen Hart, a "heart-warming and deeply moving" memoir about recovery, resilience and starting over. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-22 09:27:36 UTC ]
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Cassell will publish the “hilarious and unflinching” memoir from award-winning author and journalist Emma John about "what it means to be alone when everyone else isn't". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-22 00:54:33 UTC ]
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO if the person who hurt you most refused to say they were sorry? Could you forgive anyway? Best-selling author Susan Shapiro explores this universal question in her intriguing, insightful, all-too-relatable new book The Forgiveness Tour, out this past January. In her... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-02-21 18:00:04 UTC ]
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MOST NOVELISTS WHO want to embed sophisticated ideas in their fiction resort to long stretches of dialogue. In the traditional philosophical novel, loquacious characters are the vehicles for politics or principles. Sarah Moss is different. She favors realism and interiority. In each of her... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-02-21 13:30:51 UTC ]
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A syllabus of sorts for exploring some of the funniest books of all time by the funniest people. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-19 10:00:27 UTC ]
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Kristin Iversen profiles Patricia Lockwood, writer of crystalline sentences, really good tweets, and a new novel about much more than the internet. | Lit Hub Yemisi Adegoke grapples with what it means to be a “returnee” to Lagos, after growing up in the UK. | Lit Hub Memoir “Am I prepared? Is... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-18 10:30:19 UTC ]
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An excerpt from “Blindfold: A Memoir of Capture, Torture, and Enlightenment,” by Theo Padnos Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-16 13:32:26 UTC ]
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“Blindfold” is the American journalist Theo Padnos’s memoir of his nearly two years in captivity and a meditation on resilience. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-16 10:00:06 UTC ]
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“Ticking Clock,” a new memoir by Ira Rosen, a former producer for the show, recounts the newsmagazine’s pathbreaking journalism and its culture of harassment and abuse. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-16 10:00:05 UTC ]
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