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 arts season is off and running, with openings all over Los Angeles and beyond! Here’s a guide to the top exhibitions and events in the coming week. Paul Anthony Smith, “Containment,” at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. Smith collages bits of photographs of people taken throughout the African... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The image of furious rows and storming-outs is not one that I recognise but an industry concoction to glamorise publishingThe Man Booker prize is airing its dirty linen, celebrating its 50th birthday by drip-feeding bits of gossip and scandal from judging meetings, ceremonies and parties through... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Man Booker Prize is running a competition for independent bookshops with a cash prize of £1,000. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Donald Trump's White House is reeling following a one-two punch of revelations that cast doubt on the fealty of the president's closest advisers and risked further dividing his fractious staff.The first shot came in excerpts from an upcoming book by journalist Bob Woodward, "Fear: Trump in the... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2018-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Booker Prize Foundation has launched an online celebration for the Man Booker Prize’s 50th anniversary, charting key moments in the prize’s history. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hosted on the Man Booker Prize site, the new feature commemorates moments in the award program's first half-century and captures archival material and timelines. The post ‘Vintage Man Booker’ Is Launched, a Retrospective on 50 Years appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Heavyweight Curtis Harper was on his way to a forgettable career in boxing before he decided Friday night to leave a lasting memory. Harper, with FS1 cameras rolling in Minneapolis, touched gloves with scheduled opponent Efe Ajagba, heard the first bell and promptly walked out under the ropes... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chris White is to leave his position as Waterstones’ fiction buyer after 14 years to move into publishing as a senior commissioning editor for Simon & Schuster imprint Scribner. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Omarosa Manigault Newman was offered a US$15,000 (NZ$22,792)-a-month contract from US President Donald Trump's campaign to stay silent after being fired from her job as a White House aide by Chief of Staff John Kelly last December, according to her forthcoming book and people familiar with the... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2018-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Third Man Books, the publishing arm of Jack White‘s Third Man Records, has made its first British signing: The Gallows Pole by Ben Myers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus author Elly Griffiths emerged triumphant at the Dead Good Reader Awards with a double win while Clare Macintosh, C J Tudor, Lee Child and Lisa Jewell also scooped awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books editor Alice O'Keeffe shares her views on the 2018 Man Booker Prize longlist. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Golden Man Booker winner Michael Ondaatje has been longlisted for this year’s £50,000 Man Booker Prize for his “wonderfully” atmospheric novel Warlight (Jonathan Cape), in a line-up the judges described as dominated by dystopias. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One person suggested Amazon bookstores should replace public libraries. Readers disagreed. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IKEA is partnering with the Man Booker Prize to create ‘Reading Rooms’ filled with free novels. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Slavery, ecology, missing persons, inner-city violence, young love, prisons, trauma, and race' all are said to figure into the Man Booker Prize for Fiction longlist, as the award starts its second 50 years of competition. The post The 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction Longlist Is Announced in... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From July 31 to August 5, IKEA Wembley shoppers in London can book slots in its new Reading Room, featuring books on the 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction longlist. And they'll get to take their book home free of charge. The post IKEA and the Man Booker Prize Create Reading Rooms With Free Books... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Historian Bettany Hughes has been revealed as the chair of judges for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Along with news of the jurors for the 2019 prize, the organization has has announced that more than 10,000 copies of 'Flights' were sold in the week following May's naming of this year's winner of the Man Booker International Prize. The post Man Booker International Prize Jurors Named;... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Capping months of shortlisting and a public vote, the Man Booker Prize for Fiction's 50th anniversary 'Golden Man Booker' best-of-the-best novel has been named. Michael Ondaatje's 'The English Patient' is from the "middle" decade of the prize's five, the 1990s. The post Michael Ondaatje’s ‘The... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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