Why do so many people still love Friends? | Zoe Williams

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 memoir Maggie and Me) but this wasn’t either of those things. It was more of a fun, generational howl: how’s this stuff supposed to work? How are you supposed to become an adult in these conditions? The dream of life in your 20s – flailing around not sure what to do, mooching from one dead-end job to another but still managing to afford a gigantic, lovely flat in the centre of everything, failing romantically, hilariously, while it all turns out for the best, never feeling anxious for no reason or as if you’re slipping through the sieve of polite society, too small and weightless to remain in the in-crowd – well, that dream was cracking a little. As Barr put it in a radio interview, the question, essentially, was this: what if Friends, which by then was in its 10th and final season, wasn’t very true to life?Definitely, the economic winds were changing: wages in the UK started to stagnate in 2003; in the US, graduate wages had been falling since 2000, and health cover cut for young employees, both graduate and not, since 2002. All of this, plus climbing student debt, was dwarfed by the 2007-2008 financial crash, after which everyone got much poorer, much faster. But the casual 90s... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-10-30 18:37:24 UTC ]
News tagged with: #radio interview #final season #memoir

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Why do so many people still love Friends? | Zoe Williams'


Why do so many people still love Friends? | Zoe Williams

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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #radio interview #final season #memoir


If you love books and also love, you can rent this bookstore for a COVID-friendly date night.

Given that we’re all justifiably afraid about the breath of others right now, it’s a weird time to be dating. While the warmer months at least offered the possibility of outdoor meetings, now it’s winter and, like all other things, dating has become an exercise in futility and endless Zoom... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-28 15:42:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #love books #bookstore


William Boyd on his friend Martin Amis: ‘He was ferociously intelligent – and very funny’

He saw the world’s cruel absurdities through a comic lens, writes Boyd, who recalls his very first meeting with Amis – and explains why his unmistakable voice will never be forgotten• John Self on Amis: ‘He stamped his style over a generation’• Geoff Dyer on Amis: ‘Mick Jagger in literary... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 07:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #avid reader #charles dickens #james joyce #vladimir nabokov #elite group #first novel


As Prince Harry battles the press, why have the other royals given up the fight? | Zoe Williams

If its true that William took a payoff from Murdoch and the royals struck a peace deal, they seem willing to surrender reputations cheaplyPrince Harry has long alleged that the royal family – “the Institution”, as he calls it – is locked in a trap of appeasement with the tabloid media. In their... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-25 16:54:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #royal family #netflix documentary #memoir spare #phone hacking #claims made #memoir


‘I love nothing more than making people cry’: author Cheryl Strayed on her hugely moving TV show

Profound, big-hearted, and raw, the adaptation of bestselling book Tiny Beautiful Things is powerful television. Its writer talks grief, sorrow and being friends for life with Reese WitherspoonIn 2011, a little-known fortysomething author called Cheryl Strayed was about to become huge. She had... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-05 05:00:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #heroin addiction #desperately wanted #big screen #reese witherspoon #bestselling book


Ali Smith’s ‘Companion Piece’ is a novel for people who love language

Ali Smith's first novel since her seasonal quartet takes place in our pandemic-inflected world. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-04 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ali smith #love language #first novel


Writing an Old Friend: Spotlight on J. William Lewis

The teenage protagonist in J. William Lewis’s debut novel, The Essence of Nathan Biddle, seeks to answer life’s biggest questions. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In ‘The Liar’s Dictionary,’ People Work on the Definition of Love and Many Other Words

Eley Williams’s first novel follows characters living in London more than a century apart who toil to compile the same ill-fated dictionary. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-01-05 10:00:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #people work #eley williams #first novel


‘The Prophets’ reimagines the lives of enslaved people with the epic love story of two men

Jones’s debut is an important contribution to American letters, Black queer studies and the present moment’s profound reckoning with the legacy of America’s racialized violence. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-01-04 06:53:57 UTC ]
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Ethan Hawke's new novel on art, love and fame to William Heinemann

William Heinemann is publishing the first novel in almost 20 years from actor, writer and director Ethan Hawke: A Bright Ray of Darkness. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-05 04:15:41 UTC ]
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Why do so many people love horses? ‘Because horses.’

Sarah Maslin Nir has long been captivated by the creatures — and she’s hardly alone. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-18 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Samantha Irby Thinks Most People Suck But She Still Wants to Be Your Friend

New York Times best-selling author Samantha Irby may have become a household name (in certain households, anyway) following the massive success of her 2017 essay collection, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, but I fell in love with her hilariously funny and shamelessly honest work on her blog,... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-05-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #friend appeared #massive success #real life #electric literature #best-selling author


Normal People in Love: Sally Rooney’s Ordinary Universal Characters, by Natalia Lomaia

Book Reviews Natalia Lomaia Left: Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in Normal People (2020) / Courtesy of IMDB Sally Rooney’s 2018 novel is a meticulous observation, or even a study, of how one human being can have immense, intense power over another.... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-04-23 13:18:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #intimate moments #costa book #man booker prize #irish author


10 Eco-Friendly Gifts for the Book Lover You Love

Here's ten eco-friendly gifts for that book lover in your life from Etsy, who offset the carbon emissions created from shipping. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-02-18 11:35:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book lover


The Public Private Life Of Young Love In Sally Rooney's 'Normal People'

In the Irish author's second novel, two teens explore sex, secrets and what intimacy is worth. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2019-04-04 09:45:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young love #sally rooney #normal people #irish author


Avon snaps up Williams' 'love story of near-misses'

HarperCollins' Avon imprint has acquired world all languages rights for a debut novel from journalist and author Laura Jane Williams. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #avon snaps #love story #languages rights


Sally Rooney | 'You should make work that you don't necessarily expect people to like or love'

A precocious young Irish writer whose début was at the heart of a seven-way auction has produced a novel that belies its creator’s years, reckons Alice O’Keeffe. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sally rooney #début


William Heinemann to publish long lost love letters

William Heinemann has acquired a “significant” collection of erotic letters from a young woman to her lover dating from the 1920s. Selina Walker, publisher at Century and Arrow, bought UK and Commonwealth (excluding Australia New Zealand) rights to the collection, edited by Jean Yves Berthault... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #william heinemann #young woman #bought uk #zealand rights #kerry glencorse


VHS and Vinyl: Why People Love Retro Media

The PBS Off Book series interviews creators and collectors about their favorite analog formats.  Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Krump, Williams, DiPreta Up at William Morrow

Emily Krump and Jessica Williams have each been promoted to v-p and editorial director for William Morrow Fiction, while Mauro DiPreta has been promoted to senior v-p and editorial director for William Morrow Nonfiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #william morrow