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 ]
Stevens’s “The Making of a Justice” is both a personal memoir and a meditation on the law. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-07-17 13:32:04 UTC ]
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Last night, Variety reported that Lakeith Stanfield (also known as the actual best part of Atlanta, there I said it, don’t @ me) to star in a feature film adaptation of Kwame Onwuachi’s Notes From a Young Black Chef—which is an essential cooking memoir that you should go read immediately if you... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-16 14:28:13 UTC ]
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Imagine that you are a character from a classic tale pitching your memoir to a literary agent. You know that it will become the next bestseller. Write your query letter, story synopsis, or elevator pitch to the agent. The post It’s My Story and I’ll Pitch if I Want To by Cassandra Lipp appeared... Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2019-07-16 09:00:28 UTC ]
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Virago has scooped an "eye-opening” memoir from broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, based around what she sees from the upper deck of a London bus. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-15 11:56:36 UTC ]
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The Spanish philosopher and poet George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As a genre, historical fiction allows us to shuttle back in time to stand in the shoes, clogs, chopines, and go-go boots of people—real and imagined—to consider the... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-15 11:00:13 UTC ]
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As publishers vie to persuade us to pack their titles for the holidays, we chart the evolution of the ’beach read’Summer reads, beach reads, holiday reads … at this time of year, the publishing world works itself into a sweat trying to force its novels into our carry-on luggage, or over the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-07-14 07:00:23 UTC ]
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As we descend into the hazy thick of summer, this week’s book events remind us that one day in a life has the power to change everything. Indeed, it’s all that ever changes anything. In the memoir corner, we have a traumatic encounter at the train station, a knock on the door of a rundown... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-07-12 14:20:00 UTC ]
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Businesses and public policy makers are tapping novelists to imagine the path forward. But how much stock should we put in the predictions of storytellers? Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2019-07-12 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion Fiction has signed the “heart-wrenching” historical novel debut from Miranda Malins, following the life of Oliver Cromwell’s youngest daughter and the fall of her family. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-11 07:13:45 UTC ]
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A pitcher who had modest success with the Yankees in the 1960s, Bouton revealed the seamier side of baseball in a book that was a best seller. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-07-11 02:47:37 UTC ]
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Cultural Cross Sections Margaret Randall Children’s choir at the 2014 La Matanza Book Fair / Photo by Mauro Rico / Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación / Flickr When good engineers or scientists emigrate, they are able to continue their work. Novelists... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-10 21:07:28 UTC ]
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“How was the church food of your youth?” and other questions for Amber Scorah on her new memoir about leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses. Continue reading at The Paris Review
[ The Paris Review | 2019-07-05 13:00:54 UTC ]
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Former prime minister David Cameron will “talk candidly” to mark the publication of his long-awaited autobiography, For The Record (William Collins), in a series of events. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-04 16:12:23 UTC ]
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JAMES ALAN MCPHERSON’S memoir Crabcakes begins with the death of his tenant, Mrs. Channie Washington. A traditional memoir might have sketched McPherson’s upbringing: the strapped childhood in segregated Savannah, Georgia, as the son of an electrician and a maid, and his ascent to Harvard Law... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-04 12:30:37 UTC ]
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The former baseball commissioner, whose new memoir is “For the Good of the Game,” was a voracious childhood reader, “mostly about sports,” and especially “novels about the Brooklyn Dodgers.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-07-04 09:00:07 UTC ]
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Good news, memoir fans: Variety reports that Dani Shapiro’s bestselling memoir Inheritance will be adapted into a feature by Killer Films, with Cami Delavigne (the co-writer of Blue Valentine) on board to write the script. The memoir centers on Shapiro’s discovery, after a DNA test, that the man... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-03 13:43:07 UTC ]
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Book Reviews Alan Levenson Ever since early Islam, Jews have been dubbed the people of the book. The title stuck in European lands too, a deferential nod to the role of the Hebrew Bible in the Western canon, the breadth of Jewish literacy (never... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-02 20:46:30 UTC ]
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SPCK has signed ex-Lib Dem leader Tim Farron’s “gripping” autobiography, detailing how he balanced being a Christian and a Liberal during his political career. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-01 12:23:42 UTC ]
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A short list of books includes a personal memoir about a family’s struggle with schizophrenia, a history of psychiatry and an exploration of how tyrants think. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-06-28 22:41:56 UTC ]
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The New York Times invited Asian-American authors to choose photos from our archives and write short young-adult fiction inspired by them. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-06-28 17:18:37 UTC ]
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