William Boyd on his friend Martin Amis: ‘He was ferociously intelligent – and very funny’

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 ]

Other news stories related to: "William Boyd on his friend Martin Amis: ‘He was ferociously intelligent – and very funny’"


‘The Paris Bookseller’ honors the American woman who published ‘Ulysses’

Kerri Maher’s novel “The Paris Bookseller” celebrates the life of American Sylvia Beach, a bookstore owner who saw promise in James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-01-11 20:01:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The remarkable worlds of Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘To Paradise’

"To Paradise," by Hanya Yanagihara, is the author's first novel since "A Little Life" became a major literary event in 2015. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-11 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


I write ‘women’s commercial fiction’ –why is my work still seen as inferior to men’s? | Emma Hughes

A recent roundup of the ‘best books of 2021’ had every possible genre of novel – with the unsurprising exception of romanceIn the four months since my first novel came out, I’ve had the same conversation probably a dozen times.“What’s it about?” a well-meaning stranger will ask. “Well,” I’ll... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-12-05 15:25:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Alex Hyde | 'If I was ever going to write something, I was going to start with this story'

Academic Alex Hyde‘s first novel is a lyrical tale about two women named Violet during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-26 18:23:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka Discusses His First Novel in Nearly Fifty Years

The Nigerian writer explains the origins of his latest book’s title, why novels are harder to write than plays, and the masochistic pull of political activism. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-11-02 22:37:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Boubacar Boris Diop Wins Prestigious 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature

News and Events (c) Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr NORMAN, OKLA. – World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, announced late Tuesday evening that Boubacar Boris Diop is the 27th... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-10-26 21:56:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: ‘The Street,’ by Ann Petry

This classic story of a single mother’s struggle against poverty, published in 1946, would become the first novel by a Black woman to sell a million copies. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-22 04:28:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Interview: Isabel Allende

The Chilean novelist was living in exile when her first novel was published in 1985. “In a way, I feel that I am working for my country, even if I don’t live there,” she told us. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-21 15:31:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: ‘The Age of Innocence,’ by Edith Wharton

This tale of Gilded Age New York City became, in 1921, the first novel by a woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-21 14:55:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Sequoia Nagamatsu | 'Speculative fiction can open a dialogue'

Sequoia Nagamatsu’s bold first novel imagines how future humans might grapple with the fallout from climate change Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-15 04:56:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Here is the shortlist for the 2021 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

The Center for Fiction has just announced its shortlist for the 2021 First Novel Prize. The seven titles were selected from a longlist of twenty-seven debut novels, all published in the US between January 1 to December 21. The prize, first established in 2006, celebrates the best debut fiction... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-28 17:25:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Anthony Doerr’s ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ is a convoluted love letter to books

Doerr’s first novel since winning a Pulitzer Prize for “All the Light We Cannot See” is full of people thinking big thoughts. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-28 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land,’ by Anthony Doerr

“Cloud Cuckoo Land,” Doerr’s first novel since “All the Light We Cannot See,” unites five characters over a millennium in a tribute to books and those who love them. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-09-24 09:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'At long last, Idunit!' Wole Soyinka on his first novel in nearly 50 years

The Nigerian writer, the first sub-Saharan winner of the Nobel Prize, discusses 'Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-23 13:00:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this


S&S UK bags duo from Evanovich

Simon & Schuster UK has acquired the 28th instalment in American author Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series, alongside the first novel in a brand new series. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-22 17:14:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this


After 22 Years, Gayl Jones Returns

“Palmares” — her first novel since 1999’s “Mosquito” — is an emancipation story set in 17th-century Brazil. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-09-14 09:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Prophet of Nothingness

With Harrow, her first novel in two decades, Joy Williams stares into the abyss. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2021-09-12 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Mendelson returns with two-book Mantle deal

Mantle has landed The Exhibitionist, Charlotte Mendelson's first novel since her 2013 Booker-longlisted work Almost English (Mantle). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-07 21:02:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: Joy Williams' first novel in decades is an astonishing end-times parable

From the acclaimed author of novels and short stories, 'Harrow' is a magnificent, moving story about people picking up the pieces of apocalypse. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-07 13:00:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


He fought in the Marines and MMA matches. A novel about his mother was the fight of his life

Atticus Lish was acclaimed for his first novel 'Preparation for the Next Life.' His second, 'The War for Gloria,' is more raw, painful and personal. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-02 13:00:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this