“If artists more frequently approached writing in public as just such an extension, rather than a means of explaining or promoting it, they might find the process comes more naturally. I’m calling for a messier kind of writing, more vulnerable and yet more declamatory. Writing that is the product of a desire to speak as well as an obligation to communicate.”
Category: publishing
The Rise Of E-Book Lending
“One thing not happening as e-book lending booms is the kind of piracy that accompanied the digitization of other media. Where music and film buffs rip and hack, book lovers so far remain content to borrow temporarily on strict terms dictated by publishers, retailers and librarians.”
Vaguely Speaking- What Are We masking?
“Is Vagueness simply an unexplainable descent into nonsense? Did Vagueness begin as an antidote to the demands of political correctness in the classroom, a way of sidestepping the danger of speaking forbidden ideas? Does Vagueness offer an undereducated generation a technique for camouflaging a lack of knowledge?”
A Contrarian’s Dictionary, Seen From An Adjacent Century
“You don’t open a Dictionary of Modern English Usage to brush up on “sound linguistic principles” or to find out whether a phrase is common enough to be uncontroversial. You open it, rather, to consult the opinions of those whose understanding of the patterns of language is wider and deeper than your own, and who have a more sensitive ear for its rhythms and resonances.”
Kenzaburo Oe Leads Shortlist for ‘Asian Booker’
“Oe is in the running for the prize for his book The Changeling, as is Indian debut novelist Manu Joseph for Serious Men. The award is given to the best novel by an Asian writer, written in English or translated into English, published in the previous calendar year.”
Google Trumps Apple’s Content Subscription Service With Plan Of Its Own
“Google’s service, called Google One Pass, is a way for online publishers to sell digital content on the Web and through mobile applications using Google’s existing payment service, Google Checkout. Readers will be able to get access to that content on many devices using their Google e-mail address and password.”
Do We Really Need Libraries In An Age Of E-Books?
“Public libraries are accessible, multi-generational, classless, community spaces providing free access to books, information and an increasing range of services. With or without ebooks, this country cannot afford to lose them.”
Is Reading Over-Rated?
“One might argue that literacy is unalloyedly a good thing – yes, I can think of counter-examples, but then again one always can – but it is pretty clear to me that reading, as in reading of literature, is not. What we read can affect us vitally, penetrate, stimulate and inform us, but not always in the right ways, or at the right times, or about the right things.”
Borders Books Files Bankruptcy
“The 40-year-old company plans to close about 200 of its 642 stores over the next few weeks. All of the stores closed will be superstores.”
Martin Amis: Only A “Brain Injury” Could Make Me Write A Children’s Book
“I say, ‘If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children’s book’, but otherwise the idea of being conscious of who you’re directing the story to is anathema to me, because, in my view, fiction is freedom and any restraints on that are intolerable. I would never write about someone that forced me to write at a lower register than what I can write.”