Category: publishing

“In the age of Oprah and celebrity reality television and true tales, everyone wants a spokesperson for some horrible incident or … tragedy. A lot of writers feel forced into making a memoir of something that might more accurately be called fiction.”

Laura Miller: “The evidence of Mortenson’s financial improprieties [with respect to his non-profit] is solid; just how much he may have lied about the recuperation and kidnapping stories in [his book] is both murkier and a bit irrelevant. It’s worth asking: Would it matter much whether either anecdote were true if Mortenson’s charitable work were above reproach and impeccably conducted?”

“The central issue is this: how can we make books and articles – not just snippets, but entire works – available to everyone, while preserving the rights of the works’ creators? To answer that, of course, we need to decide what those rights are.”

“Put in a silent room before a blank page, it’s almost impossible to write. Neither is it be ideal to work near a television set that keeps drawing one’s attention or a room where a child keeps interrupting. In a coffeehouse, its rare for someone to intrude on the space of a patron with an open laptop and a look of concentration. Still, there is just enough conversation and foot traffic in the background that you’re forced to semi-consciously tune it out.”

“60 Minutes is a serious news organisation and in the wake of their report, Viking plans to carefully review the material with the author.”

“Greg Mortenson, the co-author of the best-selling Three Cups Of Tea, a book popular with the Pentagon for its inspirational lessons on Afghanistan and Pakistan, forcefully countered a CBS News report on Sunday that questioned the facts of his book and the management of his charitable organization.”

The biography prize itself went to Ron Cherwin’s Washington: A Life, while Eric Foner’s The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery won the history award and the general nonfiction winner was Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.

“Demolition of the mansion known as Land’s End began Saturday. It’s being replaced by five houses priced at $10 million each. The 13-acre property faces the Long Island Sound.”

“The sneering tone that was levelled towards commercial fiction during The Books We Really Read was deeply counterproductive to the night’s aims of actually encouraging people to read novels.”

“The Facebook generation has broken down barriers and internationalised cultural reference points. Arab literature is less parochial. In some ways this has reflected the Arab diaspora, and Arab familiarity with Europe and America, through residence, study or visits.”