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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Black & White Publishing has bought two more books in the JT Ellington series by crime novelist M P Wright. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribe UK is to publish The Bootle Boy: An Untidy Life in News by Les Hinton, Rupert Murdoch’s right-hand man for over five decades. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Research indicates diversity has improved in recent years, but a generational change is needed to balance the book trade, according to researchersA survey of more than 1,000 people working in UK publishing has found that more than 90% currently in the industry classify themselves as white... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Police are looking for a man who fled in a black SUV after fatally shooting someone late Monday afternoon in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles, authorities said. About 5:45 p.m., paramedics responded to Sierra Bonita and Melrose avenues, where they found a man wounded by gunfire, said LAPD... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Howard Kaminsky, a former president and publisher of Warner Books, Random House and William Morrow/Avon, has died. He was 77. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SWAT officers Wednesday evening were trying to coax an armed barricaded suspect out of a home in the Fairfax neighborhood, police sad. The hours-long standoff began about 4:30 p.m., when police were called to the 600 block of North Edinburgh Avenue after reports of a man holding family members... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gavin James Bower says the Man Booker Prize longlist shows the publishing industry needs to start talking about class seriously. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A man has been sentenced following an "entirely unprovoked" hate crime victimising The Cricklewood Islamic Bookshop in North West London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Judith Jones, a consummate literary editor who helped revolutionize American cuisine by publishing Julia Child and other groundbreaking cookbook authors, worked for decades with John Updike and Anne... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2017-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Last year's winner, Paul Beatty's 'The Sellout,' has sold rights into 26 foreign languages, 19 since he won the Man Booker Prize, say organizers. The post ‘Man Booker Dozen’ Revealed: The Prize Announces Its 2017 Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novels by Arundhati Roy, George Saunders, Sebastian Barry and Zadie Smith have been longlisted for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Five jurors based in the UK and North America will select the £50,000 Man Booker International Prize in the spring of 2018. The post Man Booker International 2018 Judges: Prize Honors Translator, Author appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At least three people died Friday after a fire blazed across the upper floor of a Honolulu high-rise, shooting flames and plumes of thick, black smoke out windows and causing hundreds of residents to evacuate. The 36-story tower was not equipped with sprinklers. The fire broke out on the 26th... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At least three people died and 12 were injured Friday in a fire at a Honolulu high-rise that was not equipped with sprinklers, authorities said, and hundreds fled the giant condominium complex as smoke billowed from the upper floors. The dead were found on the 26th floor, where the fire broke... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Police in Virginia arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the death of a teenage girl who was reported missing after she and her friends left a mosque early Sunday. Darwin Martinez Torres is suspected of murder, Fairfax County police said. Officials found what they believe is the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British-born translator Jessica Cohen and Israeli author David Grossman share the £50,000 Man Booker International purse for 'A Horse Walks Into a Bar.' The post Author David Grossman and Translator Jessica Cohen Win the 2017 Man Booker International Prize appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Laurence King Publishing (LKP) has joined forces with independent film magazine, Little White Lies, to collaborate on a new line of movie-themed books and gifts. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The award-winning fiction writer, poet, and playwright, whose best-known and most influential work, the story collection 'Jesus' Son,' turned 25 this year, has died. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In her new book, 'The Evangelicals,' the historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist explores how millennials are changing the face of the evangelical movement. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Employees of Penguin Random House UK have raised over £7,000 for creative writing and mentoring charity Ministry of Stories by completing a seven-mile walking route through London, including through the Royal Parks. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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