“It is a bit curious,that in this age of branding, both personal and corporate, publishing houses haven’t done more to create an identity for themselves and to get that identity out there — beyond literary agents, beyond book review editors, beyond the folks in the biz, and into the hands of the people who matter most to us: the readers.”
Tag: 08.28.07
Parents Complained Most About Penguin Book In 2006
A book on penguins “topped the American Library Association’s annual list of works attracting the most complaints from parents, library patrons and others. Overall, the number of ‘challenged’ books in 2006 jumped to 546, more than 30 percent higher than the previous year’s total, 405, although still low compared to the mid-1990s, when challenges topped 750.”
Where Are Today’s Big West End Musical Stars?
“Perhaps London is, to some extent, a victim of the 1980s British musical boom: a phenomenon that created long-running shows where the title was the star, not the person in it. With all due respect to their present casts, does the general public have any idea who’s in the West End Les Miserables or Phantom at this very moment?”
Illinois Governor Cuts Arts Funding
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has “drastically slashed funding for the Illinois Arts Council, chaired by Shirley Madigan, the House Speaker’s wife. At least $9 million was cut out of grants distributed by the Arts council, including a million dollars for the Illinois Channel and $1.5 million for Public Radio and TV grants.”
A Piano Career Through The Back Door
There are rules if you want to have a career as a concert pianist. Simone Dinnerstein doesn’t follow any of them. She even produced and released her own recording. “People were very discouraging when they heard the idea. But I thought, somebody’s going to hear it, and they’re going to hear what is different about this recording, and it’s all going to work out.”
July – a Good Month For UK Movie-going
In the UK “more people went to the cinema last month than in any month for the past 40 years. Bad weather, a procession of big budget sequels and the lack of big sporting events were the most obvious causes of the surge in attendance.”
New York – Past Its Prime?
“Manhattan has become history, permanently frozen as it wants to remember itself, in a Buddy-can-you-spare-a-dime, browny-grey Gotham pallor of neon and Art Deco. That’s just how urban history goes. It had its day, between Edith Wharton and the Son of Sam. Now, in its dotage, New York has simply joined the ranks of all the other former greatest cities of the world – Athens, Rome, London, Vienna, Paris, et al – envying those racy whippersnappers in the Far East and occasionally indulging in dodgy midlife makeovers.”
Study: UK Boys Much Less Likely To Consider Colege
“Overall the survey, conducted for the trust by Ipsos Mori, showed that 71% of young people believed they would go to university but this was split between 76% of girls and 67% of boys.”
Hollywood Roars Back This Summer
“Summer movies had started to acquire a bad name among critics and viewers, with studios using the quieter months of July and August to tuck away films that stank. But this year there has been a noticeable glut of blockbusters, and the audience has responded in kind.”
China Bans “Reality Surgery” Shows
“China’s media regulators have banned reality TV shows that feature plastic surgery or sex-change operations, after some viewers complained they were “horrifying and sickening.”