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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In her mesmerizing debut novel, “Miracle Creek,” Angie Kim takes readers into the courtroom for a story of lies and a trial to find the truth. It isn’t a crime to lie. But it is a crime to lie in a courtroom. Even the smallest lie can contaminate a trial, and in “Miracle Creek,” Kim shows... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-05-10 18:50:00 UTC ]
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In “Gatsby’s Oxford,” Christopher A. Snyder explores another side of Fitzgerald’s hero. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-05-08 15:49:14 UTC ]
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Imagine the novel idea of being able to read the news without a pop-up ad or a screen notification for a new email or a tweet from the White House. As some magazines have gone digital-only, other big publishers and brands have reversed course and leaned deeper into the ultimate lean back... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2019-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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She served on President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2019-05-05 17:50:42 UTC ]
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A new study finds that by 2050, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. Here’s how the company is designing user experiences to face the billions of dead users to come. By 2050, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. That’s a conservative estimate, according to a study... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oliver Jeffers ended up learning a "whole other language" to create Fausto, his upcoming fable about a man who wants to own everything he sees, which he made using traditional lithographic printmaking techniques at Idem, a fine-art printing studio in Paris. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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White supremacists briefly took over a reading by author Jonathan Metzl at the flagship location for Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, shouting “this land is our land” and marching through the store yelling the name of a group that helped to organize the 2017... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vanessa Onwuemezi has won this year’s £2,500 White Review Short Story Prize for her tale "At the Heart of Things". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Almost 200 people attended the first official Conduit event, as host Deborah Frances-White spoke of how soon the industry’s top jobs will “routinely” be taken by women as this generation smashes the glass ceiling. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review of “Report on the Investigation Into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election” by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-04-19 20:30:51 UTC ]
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Will Young is "calling for an end to society’s legacy of gay shame" in a "taboo-breaking" manifesto-memoir, How to Be A Gay Man (Virgin Books). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The White Review Short Story Prize has unveiled its shortlist following a record year of 570 submissions. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie publishers and women, including last year’s winner Olga Tokarczuk, dominate the £50,000 Man Booker International Prize shortlist, revealed on Tuesday (9th April). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publishers Fitzcarraldo Editions, Sandstone Press, Serpent's Tail, and And Other Stories are represented in this year's Man Booker International Prize shortlist for work in translation. The post Five Women Authors, Six Women Translators on Man Booker International Shortlist appeared... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown staff and other Hachette imprints will take part in a 9km charity walk marking Virago’s publication of Julia Bueno’s book on miscarriage. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mitchell Beazley has acquired the first home decorating book by Chrissie Rucker and her retail firm The White Company. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media agency metrics and cut-rate pricing are putting major pressure on the margins of publishers' branded content operations. The post ‘If we have to, we let them walk away’: Branded content margin pressure squeezes publishers appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2019-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poor working conditions for book editors are ingrained. It’s time for that to change – no matter how much we love our jobsBook editors love their jobs, perhaps more than the average worker. We work diligently with motivated and inspiring peers on projects we are proud of. You may not realise... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Starring Jared Leto and Matt Smith, Morbius - based on a comic book - is set for release next summer. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2019-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook paints a bleak picture for the media industry, while ignoring its own role in publishing’s demise. Benevolent Doctor Facebook today gave the country a very grave diagnosis via a blog post. The company has found that–wait for it–local news is dying. In fact, Facebook says that about... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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