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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The story collection follows dishwashers, sandwich makers and machine operators going about their days. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-19 14:59:56 UTC ]
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Macmillan Publishers has announced they will return to the library ebook pricing model that was in place October 31, 2019. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-17 20:14:04 UTC ]
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Paul Lisicky, author of “Later: My Life at the Edge of the World,” talks about Provincetown, the challenges of memoir and learning not to suppress anger. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-03-15 09:00:05 UTC ]
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Religion publishers are leading discussions about race in an attempt to explain how white Christians can help heal racial divisions in several new books publishing between now and fall. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Between 75 and 100 Hachette Book Group employees in New York City and Boston condemn their publisher's acquisition of Woody Allen's autobiography, as Ronan Farrow leaves Hachette in protest. The post Hachette USA Employees Walk Out to Protest Woody Allen Book appeared first on Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-06 12:13:58 UTC ]
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Staff at Hachette Book Group staged a walkout of its New York and Boston offices yesterday (5th March) in protest against its decision to publish Woody Allen’s autobiography. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 22:07:34 UTC ]
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Today, employees at the Little, Brown and Company imprint of the Hachette Book Group have organized a walkout in protest of the company’s announcement that it will be moving forward with the publication of Woody Allen’s memoir, Apropos of Nothing. Allen’s memoir was purchased by Hachette’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-05 21:02:55 UTC ]
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Cussler's page-turning novels about underwater explorer Dirk Pitt sold millions of copies. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2020-02-27 05:10:29 UTC ]
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His literary fantasies and larger-than-life exploits swirled together for decades. He wrote some 70 books, selling no fewer than 100 million copies, and located scores of shipwrecks. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-02-26 17:57:43 UTC ]
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Adam Sisman‘s sprightly new book follows a 20th-century fantasist who styled himself, variously, as a professor, doctor and reverend. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-26 15:00:00 UTC ]
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Adam Sisman‘s sprightly new book follows a 20th-century fantasist who styled himself, variously, as a professor, doctor and reverend. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-26 15:00:00 UTC ]
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Hope Dellon, former longtime editor at St. Martin's Press, died on February 19 surrounded by family in New York. She was 67. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Val McDermid’s How the Dead Speak (Sphere) has knocked Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (Ebury) from the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, with 16,856 copies sold for its first full week on sale. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-18 10:19:09 UTC ]
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In Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s historical novel, characters have many ideas about a woman’s place in 17th-century Europe. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-17 22:25:50 UTC ]
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Last week, Lyz Lenz, a journalist and writer who lives in Iowa, predicted that the state’s caucuses “are going to be a f*cking nightmare.” In a piece for Gen, Lenz (who also contributes regularly to CJR) wrote that the caucuses are inaccessible at the best of times, and that state Democrats’... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-02-04 13:11:10 UTC ]
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Because they have nothing to hide about anything, the White House has issued some kind of threat—according to CNN’s Jake Tapper—in a formal letter to former National Security Adviser John Bolton, whose forthcoming memoir from Simon & Schuster contains first-hand accounts of Donald Trump... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-29 17:43:05 UTC ]
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A new comic book series imagines that Nancy has been killed, infuriating some fans of the unstoppable teen detective who made her debut 90 years ago. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-01-25 19:16:28 UTC ]
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In 1898, corruption and violence drove blacks from Wilmington, N.C., writes David Zucchino. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-01-24 02:32:12 UTC ]
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Sooo. People are pissed—rightly so, I think—about the particularly white, particularly male slate of nominations for this year’s Academy Awards.* For example, in a year with movies like Little Women (directed by Greta Gerwig), The Farewell (directed by Lulu Wang), and Hustlers (directed by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-13 15:46:10 UTC ]
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