In today's podcast, Claire Armitstead, John Crace and Sarah Crown tackle the celebrity "books of the year" lists, asking why they've become such a fixture of the newspaper calendar. John Crace provides a digested codebook that will help you to read between the lines of the celebrities' recommendations, and in case you're not taken with their suggestions, the panel come up with a few of their...
just listening to the horrors. friday began reading a novel by margaret atwood called surfacing. got the book off amazon on the strength of a short essay about it by mark fisher of k-punk. ive only read 10 or so pages so far. a woman returning to the town she grew up in. it's written in a sort of cold, distanced style. i like it. have made two trips to birmingham lately: wednesday of last week and...
michiko kakutani has positively reviewed books by the following authors that i like: frederick barthelme, bret easton ellis, lorrie moore, ann beattie, [probably many others] she has negatively reviewed books by the following authors that i like: nicholson baker, joy williams, [probably many others] i've read probably 30-50 of her reviews and feel that she might enjoy, or not enjoy, shoplifting from...
Lately I've been re-reading some of Lorrie Moore's stories, from both Self-Help and Birds of America , especially Self-Help . I'd been meaning to do so even before learning that she had a new novel out ( A Gate at the Stairs ), but certainly its appearance moved the stories a little higher on my pile. Then I read this post from Paul Dorell at flyover about the novel and its reception. The post has...
Here's what's going on in the store this week. We're pretty busy! Monday, November 9th (tonight!), 7 PM. Joe Dungan , discussing his book L. A. Nuts . We use the Ingram web site so the link will indicate the book is not available. It will work to order the book if you pick it up in store. Yes, we still have work to do on our web site. Whether you love or hate L. A., Joe's columns might make you chortle....
As you've probably already heard, this year's Publishers Weekly Top 10 Best Books of 2009 is exclusively male-authored. WILLA (Women In Letters And Literary Arts) has issued a press release titled "Why Weren't Any Women Invited To Publishers Weekly 's Weenie Roast." Quoted in The Huffington Pos t, PW confidently admitted that they're “not the most politically correct" choices....
This seems to be the year in which my favorite writers publish novels that don't make any sense . I'm talking about the new Jonathan Lethem, Chronic City , an exhaustingly unmoored narrative about weird male friendship, set in an alternate-universe Upper East Side. There's lots to like here, especially if, like me, you like Lethem--an escaped tiger wreaking havoc, giant urban conceptual-art pits in...
Lorrie Moore: A Gate at the Stairs AJ Jacobs: The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment Nick Hornby: Juliet, Naked Allen Shawn: Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life
Here are our latest hardcover fiction bestsellers: 1. The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan 2. Last Night in Twisted River, by John Irving 3. Wild Things (fur-covered version), by Dave Eggers 4. Half-Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls 5. A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore 6. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown 7. The Help, by Katherine Stockett 8. Chronic City, by Jonathan Lethem 9. Her Fearful Symmetry,...
Think Publishers Weekly missed something on their top ten list? Add to The WILLA list Great Books by Women that Publishers Weekly Missed in 2009 ! WILLA's Press Release from November 2, 2009 Why Weren’t Any Women Invited To Publishers Weekly’s Weenie Roast? Publishers Weekly recently announced their Best Books Of 2009 list. In their top ten, chosen by editorial staff, no books written by...
As the weekend glimmers like the light at the end of a five-day-long tunnel, here is your daily dose of quick links and publishing catnip. In a WowoWow interview , author Lorrie Moore confesses: "I do know a lot of writers are watching musicians and the way they've bypassed the sinking music industry and struck out on their own." Entertainment Weekly landed an excerpt from "Nightlight,"...
Campaigners incensed after Publishers Weekly's top 10 titles of 2009 ignores female authors US trade magazine Publishers Weekly has come under fire for failing to include a single woman in its list of the top 10 titles of 2009. From Richard Holmes's history of science in the Romantic generation, The Age of Wonder, to Blake Bailey's Cheever: A Life, Geoff Dyer's novel Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi,...
For Immediate Release November 2, 2009 Why Weren’t Any Women Invited To Publishers Weekly’s Weenie Roast? Publishers Weekly recently announced their Best Books Of 2009 list. Of their top ten, chosen by editorial staff, no books written by women were included. Quoted in The Huffington Post, PW confidently admitted that they're “not the most politically correct" choices. This statement...
It was not long ago that the short story was little sister to the novel, but lately there has been a transformation. With major-league prizes such as the National Short Story competition, the short story is coming into its own again. Claire Keegan and Lorrie Moore have made their reputations on shorts alone; Alice Munro and Ali Smith have made it a highly regarded and popular form.
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