3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a great book despite its title
4. Guardian blog: You don't need adults to sex up children's literature
5. New York Review of Books: EM Forster, Middle Manager by Zadie Smith
6. Andrew O'Hagan at The Observer
7. Idlewind Press in the Nicholas Building
8. Salon: Who Will Save Public Schools?
9. Paper Cuts: The Berserk After Work Club and Perfect
Thanks to Mister Nora: Melbourne hooks the books
Big whoops for all the writers and editors and publishers and readers who will benefit from this decision, and there's plenty of opportunity to celebrate over the next fortnight. I guess the next question is, how will it really affect us all?
7 comments:
I knew I moved here for a reason! :-)
I think it's great, Lou, for a number of reasons, including this: it's much harder for the state government to slash library/festival/literacy funding in the future after such an internationally public committment. A wee bit of razor gang insurance.
i don't know what's going on with my blog today, doing a double banger... but anyway...
Razor gang insurance, TJ, is excellent, yes - just for starters, that's good.
LM - welcome to melbourne! (I promise it gets warmer!)
Sorry Lou I didn't notice the Andrew O'Hagan thing until just now. Reviews, sometimes harsh ones, are part of this novel-writing caper. I'm up for it. But does he mean that the books R&J recommend are stupid? All 82 of them, mine included? Mister Pip? Cloud Atlas? Brick Lane?
In my view, it's an error to think of R&J as a publicity tool, and an error to think that the British reading public are crap-buying sheep. In reality, the UK has many fewer independent bookstores than we do, so there's much, much less hand-selling and personal recommendations. The R&J lists are not designed to lift a culture's literary standards. They're a replacement for the fab bookstores we take for granted, where someone hands you a book, be it crime, literary fiction or comedy, and says, 'I loved this. I think you will too.'
Blanket attacks and generalisations are usually confounding, and O'Hagan - who is a thinker and writer I often admire - makes loads in this, including his attack on creative writing classes - the easiest target in the book (thursday is a day that turns a blind eye to puns). I don't think he could possibly mean all Richard and Judy books. He's got a bee in his bonnet and I'm intrigued to know where it's going to lead. Perhaps someone will use the MWF to respond...
Oh dear, what were you saying about razor gang insurance?...
"Cutbacks hit National Gallery, Library"
http://news.theage.com.au/national/cutbacks-hit-national-gallery-library-20080821-3z7d.html
Ah, pfft, wait! This is what happens when you don't read things before you post them. No cutbacks at the NGV. Phew.
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