The novelist on his new collection of journalism, why he regrets criticising Sally Rooney and how he’s never shaken off the influence of JG Ballard“I’ll see your eidolon next Tuesday,” writes Will Self, 61, when I email to arrange a video call to discuss his new collection of journalism, Why Read: Selected Writings 2001-2021, which is centred on the concern (as he later told me, or my on-screen spirit-image) that “people are dumbing down their entire response to their own culture by their unfettered use of social media”. Self’s 26 previous books include Umbrella, shortlisted for the Booker prize in 2012, and its sequels Shark and Phone, the latter a single 624-page paragraph which the Telegraph called an “epic anti-tweet”. Speaking from his home in south London, he said he liked the description “because the book was a deliberate attempt to call people’s attention to what was being lost by the digital. I don’t think the Umbrella trilogy is that hard to read at all; it’s only hard to read in contrast to a tweet. By Donald Trump!”How did you pick the pieces in Why Read?Until fairly recently, certainly since 2001, I probably wrote an average of 150,000 words of journalism every year, so there’s a vast amount to choose from. My New York editor said that in the age of the web, collections like this need a theme or else readers feel they’re just getting a grab bag they could’ve sourced themselves. So the emphasis fell on the impact on reading and writing of what I choose to call... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-11-26 18:00:32 UTC ]
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Edward White’s interlocking essays consider different facets of the director’s personality, as a family man, a dandy and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-14 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The ten winners of the 36th Whiting Awards, each of which comes with a $50,000 prize, were announced on April 14 in a virtual ceremony. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster Children’s Books is to publish Vespertine, an "epic" YA fantasy duology by Margaret Rogerson. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-19 18:14:32 UTC ]
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The Association of University Presses analyzed university press data from the most recent Diversity Baseline Survey of U.S. publishing from Lee & Low and found the university press segment severely lacking in diversity. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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At 80, the author understands the mingled triumphs and humiliations of a long, complicated life. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-09 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Black & White will publish the first book from "Great British Bake Off" 2020 winner Peter Sawkins. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-25 00:03:12 UTC ]
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Poet, publisher and bookseller Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who helped launch and perpetuate the Beat movement, has died. He was 101. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2021-02-23 20:10:42 UTC ]
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Do you love One Punch Man and want to read more things like it? Here's a list of webtoons, light novels, and manga like One Punch Man. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-02-23 11:39:00 UTC ]
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Results of a survey of almost 1,400 ResearchGate members who had interacted with Springer Nature publications form the basis of this paper. The post Springer Nature: A White Paper on Researchers and Gold Open Access appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-02-22 02:20:56 UTC ]
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Melvin Burgess’ Three Bullets, which interrogates themes of brainwashing and the far-right, will be released this summer alongside a 25th-anniversary edition of the author’s pioneering YA novel Junk. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-11 21:15:24 UTC ]
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Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt Jr., the self-described "smut peddler who cares" who used his pornography empire and flair for the outrageous to push the limits of free speech, has died at the age of 78. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2021-02-11 02:25:53 UTC ]
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In “Under a White Sky,” the Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Kolbert meets people who are trying to reverse the course of man-made environmental disaster. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-10 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Harris’s portrait of director Mike Nichols is a pleasure to read and a model biography. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-03 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Bob Gersony’s career shows how America can meld security interests and human rights, writes Robert D. Kaplan. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-01-29 13:00:00 UTC ]
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The best-selling author just found out that her debut novel is soon to be on the first lady’s bedside table. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-01-28 10:00:04 UTC ]
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As a verb, one definition of essay is to try. As horrible as 2020 was, let’s pretend it means to try again. Audiobooks of self-contained pieces between twenty and sixty minutes seem perfectly suited for walks, commutes, and household chores. Essays might also be perfect for attention spans... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-28 09:48:07 UTC ]
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Carey’s novel is an existential fairy tale for adults told by an old artist considering the tragedy of life. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-01-28 06:47:56 UTC ]
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Culture A still image from the film White Tiger (Netflix, 2021). After watching White Tiger, a writer contemplates the film alongside revolution in Egypt, Black Lives Matter protests, the film Parasite, and literary “complicated works of... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-01-27 20:33:27 UTC ]
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White Rabbit publisher Lee Brackstone has acquired world rights to two new books by Dylan Jones, through Jonny Geller at the Curtis Brown Group. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-25 10:46:54 UTC ]
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