He saw the world’s cruel absurdities through a comic lens, writes Boyd, who recalls his very first meeting with Amis – and explains why his unmistakable voice will never be forgotten• John Self on Amis: ‘He stamped his style over a generation’• Geoff Dyer on Amis: ‘Mick Jagger in literary form’The awful news of Martin Amis’s death prompts a rush of memories. I first met him in 1969, in Paris, when we both found ourselves staying in the same apartment on the Île Saint-Louis for a few days. I was 17, Martin was 20. I only realised who this Martin guy was four years later when his first novel, The Rachel Papers, appeared. In a strange but real sense, he was the first writer I had ever met. And thus began an acquaintance as an avid reader and later as a friend.The remarkable thing about that first novel was the utter confidence and distinctiveness of the narrative voice. Martin found his style at the very beginning of his career as a writer and it never changed. That voice he had defined and charged everything else he wrote – fiction, essays, journalism, memoirs. Very few writers can be instantly identified by a sentence or two of their prose – Laurence Sterne, Charles Dickens, James Joyce, DH Lawrence, Vladimir Nabokov – and Martin precociously joined that elite group and stayed there. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 07:00:49 UTC ]
If you are an avid reader, there’s a good chance you’re also a Ravenclaw. But which one are you? Take our quiz to find out! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-08-21 10:32:47 UTC ]
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A reimagining of Vladimir Nabokov’s classic Lolita, written from the child’s point of view, will be published in France this week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-19 16:23:01 UTC ]
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I own a 19-year-old copy of Vladimir Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading. I place its age from the barcode on its back, which states the name of the bookstore where I bought it: Borders.The one that used to sit on the ground floor of the World Trade Center, the one I’d been to multiple times […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-19 08:50:43 UTC ]
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The Center for Fiction announced its 2019 First Novel Prize Longlist yesterday. The award is given to the “best debut novel published between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of the award year,” and the prize-winning author receives $10,000. Here is the 2019 longlist (featuring many titles from our 2019 Book... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2019-07-25 17:22:45 UTC ]
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The Center for Fiction just announced the longlist for this year’s best debut novel. The shortlist will be announced in September and the winner will be announced in December at The Center for Fiction’s Annual Benefit and Awards Dinner at its new, spacious, happening location in Brooklyn.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-25 16:41:15 UTC ]
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A drowning haunts Susan Steinberg’s dark first novel about teenagers’ summer adventures. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2019-07-23 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Fig Tree will publish journalist and author Dolly Alderton’s debut novel, Ghosts, about a food writer with a dedicated online following whose personal life is falling apart. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-10 16:29:40 UTC ]
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Tochi Onyebuchi’s young adult books, the duology Beasts Made of Night and Crown of Thunder, are fantasy novels with a Nigeria-influenced setting. His upcoming War Girls is set in a post-nuclear, post-climate change Nigeria of 2172. Riot Baby, his first novel for adults (also forthcoming), is a... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-04 11:00:10 UTC ]
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She published her first novel at 50, and her heroines were invariably rich, savvy, ambitious and preternaturally beautiful. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-06-24 20:37:23 UTC ]
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As she celebrates a series of career milestones—which coincide with the 20th anniversary of her publisher, Dafina Books—the author starts a new chapter by revisiting classic characters in the long-awaited sequel to her first novel, My Brother’s Keeper. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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For decades, playwright and YA author Tim Mason has been intrigued by a minor character in Charles Dickens’s 'Bleak House.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado I've absolutely loved this collection of short stories, which floats between the weird and the queer, passing horror, black comedy and feminism along the way. Doubles and others are especially important: a wife enters her wife’s dream when they... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-04-11 08:49:28 UTC ]
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Republic of Consciousness prize honours Will Eaves and Alex Pheby, but says awards make us wrongly consider a sole winner ‘the best’A novel about James Joyce’s troubled daughter, Lucia, and a reimagining of the chemical castration of Alan Turing have been named the joint winners of the Republic... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novels inspired by the lives of Alan Turing and James Joyce's daughter are among 13 works of fiction in the running for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael G. R Tolkien, the eldest grandson of J. R. R. Tolkien, and Gerald Dickens, a great-grandson of Charles Dickens, have formed a "unique" collaboration to bring out an audiobook of the verse story WISH. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Folio: is pleased to unveil the 2018 Class of Folio: 100 Honorees. The annual list is comprised of the best and brightest minds in the magazine media industry today. From Corporate Catalysts to Industry Influencers and C-Level Visionaries, these honorees represent every sector: consumer, b2b,... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2018-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From business "agility" to a memoirist's breakthrough–with Beckett and James Joyce in the mix, as well–these are books to consider and watch as we go deeper into the season. The post Rights Roundup: A Post-Frankfurt Look at a Range of Titles and Rights Sales appeared first on Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic will publish a new version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol “retold” by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Tony Ross, who the publisher said is directly descended from one of Dickens’ illustrators. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hunter Greene is joining an elite group of athletes that includes LeBron James, Bryce Harper and Kevin Garnett. All were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as high school athletes. The Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High School baseball player will be only the 13th high school athlete ever... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The man who ushered classics like Catch-22 into the world, Gottlieb has reason to brag. But in his new memoir Avid Reader he prefers to downplay the editor’s role Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, once gave an interview where he credited his editor with kicking his work into shape. After... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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