Category: words

“One view in the publishing industry is that bestseller lists are the product of a skill-based meritocracy. But the reality is that the popular perception of a book itself is colored by the strength of the author’s brand. When we view bestseller list, part of what we’re seeing is a brand ranking.”

Published in 1979, the book “ends with Russia annexing Crimea after its citizens are snookered into requesting the invasion themselves: in other words, it eerily anticipates this week’s news.”

“Decades ago, the thousands of Tibetan-language books now ensconced in a lavishly decorated library in southwest China might have ended up in a raging bonfire. ”

Spritz Inc. is attempting to redesign reading–and renaming it “spritzing”–by streaming one word at a time at speeds varying between 250 and 1,000 words per minute. Words are centered around an “Optimal Recognition Point” in a special display called the “Redicle.”

“The Supreme Court said that it would hear a class action lawsuit filed in 2010 by former employees of Amazon contractor Integrity Security Systems who claim that, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they deserve back pay for the time” – 15 to 30 minutes each way – “they spent in security checks at the beginning and end of the day, which the warehouse mandated to prevent employee theft.”

Well, that what Heather Havrilesky argues: “Reading [Richard] Bach’s novella can feel like pinpointing the exact moment in American history when our disillusionment and outrage at society’s massive, grand-scale failures yielded to a new kind of personal arrogance, a championing of the individual over the group no matter the cost.”

Andrew O’Hagan recounts the fiasco that was his attempted collaboration with Julian Assange, the worst autobiography subject ever.

“Ever since the credit crunch of 2008 writers have been tightening belts, cutting back and, in extreme cases, staring into an abyss of penury. Never mind the money, the very business of authorship is now at stake.”

“I don’t know if my publisher, Little, Brown, has given Amazon a white envelope thick with green bills, but in recent weeks my novel has distanced itself from Sweet Valley High (‘What do you mean you broke up with Scott!’). Now, whenever you search for the book, you’ll find its company more appropriate.”

“I had inadvertently revealed my strongest personal compulsion, which is to hoard verbal matter, overheard conversation, stray remarks, stray thoughts, notes, lists, e-mails, gchats, text messages, diaries, notebooks, any and every piece of paper on which something mysterious or funny is written.”