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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Werner Herzog did it with Grizzly Man, Adam McKay did it with Vice – from archival libraries to old film canisters from charity shops, the past is waiting to be brought to lifeA child sits on a rock ledge buckling his shoe. The camera zooms towards a mysterious dark shape behind him as the boy... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-03 09:00:16 UTC ]
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Do you want more animal manga series in your life? Check out this list of titles, which ranges from the cute to the downright weird. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-07-02 10:33:25 UTC ]
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The National Book Award–winner tackles familial, and national, legacies of white supremacy in his latest book, 'Life of a Klansman.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A report commissioned by the Centre for New and International Writing at the University of Liverpool has highlighted a stark lack of diversity in poetry publishing and, particularly, poetry criticism. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-24 00:27:21 UTC ]
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Long-held assumptions held by the trade about writers of colour must be challenged and a concerted effort made to reach new and diverse audiences, the industry heard tuning into a webinar launching the Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing report. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-23 18:37:47 UTC ]
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“Death in Her Hands” is not so much about solving a death as it is about conjuring a life. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-06-23 14:05:17 UTC ]
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“What’s Left of Me Is Yours,” a debut novel by Stephanie Scott, is inspired by the events surrounding an unlikely murder that occurred in Japan. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-06-23 09:00:07 UTC ]
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Black & White Publishing has acquired world rights for Scottish sports commentator Andrew Cotter's story of his adventures with his dogs Olive and Mabel, who have become lockdown hits online. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-18 15:40:35 UTC ]
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A selection of books published this week; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-06-09 12:05:57 UTC ]
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Liverpool indie Dead Ink Books has made its first acquisition of a US title, Whiteout Conditions by Tariq Shah. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-08 02:54:43 UTC ]
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White Rabbit has signed the third novel from David Keenan, a St Petersburg and St Andrews-set tale about sex, singer-songwriters and magical coincidences. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-05 07:58:30 UTC ]
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Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race (Bloomsbury) has rocketed straight into the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Non-Fiction number one spot in its first week in the chart. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-03 00:35:29 UTC ]
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‘The Man of the Crowd’ is one of the shorter short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe (who pioneered the short story form when it was still an emerging force in nineteenth-century magazines and periodicals). Written in 1840, the story is deliciously enigmatic and, in some ways, prefigures later... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2020-06-02 14:00:22 UTC ]
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The events at Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013 form the linchpin of Ackerman’s shrewd, intricately plotted fourth novel. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-29 12:00:00 UTC ]
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When Torbjørn Ekelund lost his driver’s license, he didn’t wallow. Instead, he walked. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-27 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier Books UK has acquired Kate MacDougall's story of the dog walking business she founded in her mid-twenties, London’s No1 Dog Walking Agency. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-19 04:39:15 UTC ]
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The Sensuous Dirty Old Man (1971) is credited to “Dr. A”… but “the secret is out,” admits a paperback edition, naming the author as Isaac Asimov, “undoubtedly the best writer in America” per the Mensa Bulletin. A response to a then-popular book called The Sensuous Woman, Asimov’s book instructs... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-14 08:48:40 UTC ]
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Portrait of Ravi Shankar is a human life story, defined by familial failures, seething rivalries, physical frailty and relentless ambition. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-14 07:17:52 UTC ]
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Audible has snapped up an exclusive “white-knuckle suspense” thriller from Kindle bestseller Paddy Magrane. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-30 20:14:26 UTC ]
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Published with permission from BAM and the National Book Foundation What is it about courage that astounds our ability to imagine it? Perhaps it’s because, in dire times, we’re told to forget we can—not be courageous, but imagine what that looks like, what it feels like. To imagine others,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-23 08:49:39 UTC ]
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