Will Self: ‘I’m seen as a still-walking dead white man’

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 ]
News tagged with: #south london #deliberate attempt #readers feel #grab bag #observer order #delivery charges #books include

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2014 Man Booker Prize Longlist Features 4 Yanks

The first Man Booker Prize longlist after opening to world English writers includes books by four Americans, six Britons, two Irish writers and one Australian. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers respond to Man Booker 13

Potential strong sales from the newly released Man Booker longlist are threatened by the fact... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mitchell, Nicholls and Smith on Man Booker longlist

A novel from crowd-funded publisher Unbound and three Hodder and three Vintage authors are on the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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INM recruits Tesco man to be its chief executive

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[ The Guardian | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Angry Nerd: Why Guardians of the Galaxy Works Where Spider-Man Fails Hard

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[ Wired | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tony O'Reilly: once Ireland's richest man, faces having to sell his homes

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[ The Guardian | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Man of Many Voices: Eric Bogosian

“Characters are everything,” says New York Obie-winning actor and writer Eric Bogosian. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Poorest Man’s Copyright

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[ Slate | 2014-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WBN 2014: Walking the Lighthouse Road Along Lake Superior

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marlborough's White Horse bookshop saved

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print isn't dead after all; mags record upbeat quarter

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[ Crains New York | 2014-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print isn't dead after all, magazine biz shows signs of revival

[ Crains New York | 2014-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Advertising Age | 2014-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2014-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ BBC News | 2013-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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