SlushPile Hell

Oh this is funny.

SlushPile Hell

Worryingly, I also fear that this is so close to reality that if I look hard enough, I might find one of my old letters in there somewhere.

Aaargh. Who'd be a writer?

Book trade | Secret Bookshop | The last days of the bookshop

I came across this link this morning. Think of it as an elegy to the printed word. "There are better things to sell. Sell crack, its a better business..... We've lost. I just want to do it as much as I can."

This guy has a bookstore in a house. There is no shop front. No advertising. Its not a licensed store in the legal sense (not sure what the American rules are about this).

This is real, an example of a bookseller making things work for him today, but it sounds like something Ray Bradbury might have dreamed up decades ago as science fiction. A world in which readers must hide behind thick curtains in order to buy and discuss books.

It also reminded me of the bookshop in Shadow in the Wind. Somewhere people in the know go to indulge in a secret pleasure. Somewhere that is under threat.

I've written a couple of posts about bookstores. I have an ambivalent feeling, especially towards the death of second had stores, many of which I feel have rested on their laurels for too long. But there is a charm, a beauty - a seriousness - about books and the people who love and sell them that is appealing. Well, I'm a bibliophile, I wouldn't say anything different.

Patrick De Witt | Booker longlist | The Sisters Brothers

Great to hear that Patrick De Witt's The Sisters Brothers has made the Booker longlist.

I spoke to Patrick a while back: the book is terrific, an understated anc clever piece of writing that will also make you laugh.

Which is a rare thing in literary fiction. After Howard Jacobson's win last year, will the judges go for humour again?

http://patrickdewitt.net/

Apple takes a bite out of Kobo's app (others to follow) | FutureBook

What do people think of this? As much as we love Apple's products, is Jobs asking for too much from publishing? Will this kill off ebook publishing, or will it help secure it a future?

Apple takes a bite out of Kobo's app (others to follow) | FutureBook

Stephen King on 'Lord of the Flies' - Telegraph | Norway's island of hell

Stephen King on 'Lord of the Flies' - Telegraph

This year marks William Golding's centenary. To mark the occasion Faber & Faber are reissuing his first two novels, The Lord of the Flies and The Inheritors.

The second includes an introduction by the author's biographer, John Carey. I spoke to Carey recently for a feature on Golding, which I'll publish here in due course. Carey, an Oxford professor, mentioned the fact that the Lord Of the Flies included an introduction from Stephen King, which The Telegraph have reproduced. Read it by following the link above. He said how surprised he was that Faber had somehow picked up on the fact that King was a fan of Golding's work.

In a sense, it isn't that much of a shock to discover that the horror writer supreme is a Golding fan. King's writing orbits the same themes that lie within Golding's novel: the inherent evil that man is capable of. Carey pointed out that this pessimistic view of the human race made Golding far less popular than he might otherwise have been with both critics and the general public. His gloominess was not welcome in Britain -- though he did get far more recognition eventually in Europe. And Golding did of course win the Nobel Prize for Literature. A prize initiated by a Norwegian arms manufacturer to promote the best in art, science and, yes, peace making.

This weekend Norway suffered the single worst terrorist atrocity to visit Europe in decades. Perhaps ever. One man - a driven, calculating, deluded individual, the kind of 'unrealistic' extreme character crime writers are often criticised for dreaming up - has taken about 100 lives. Despatched as if they were avatars in a video game.

Most of them were teenagers serious and caring enough about their society to be attending a summer camp run by a political party where they indulged in those dangerous habits of discussions and debate. Their voices were silenced by extreme violence on an island that turned into hell. My thoughts are with Norway this week and with what human beings are capable of.

Top 100 Books | Harper Lee, the one book wonder

As we near the end of this search for the Top 100 books, one thing is pretty clear: To Kill A Mockingbird will definitely be on it.

In fact, as you can imagine, it is competing for the 'top spot' - book with the most mentions - with that other perennial, Lord of the Rings.

Harper Lee's first and only novel is remarkable for so many reasons. Remarkable that a writer capable of producing it never published again. Remarkable that the book has endured down the decades.

Last summer there was a British documentary in which a fan of the book went in search of the writer. Even though he was walking up and down her street in Alabama, Nelle (her full name is Nelle Harper Lee) was never tempted to call a halt to her long held ban on interviews. We didn't even catch a glimpse of her.

I respect that. What a sweet contrast to her life long pal, Truman Capote's very different approach to the media. Capote was a brilliant writer, but his books don't last the way Lee's solitary title does. There is something timeless and simple about her approach to writing.

But what do you think?

Famous for the wrong book | Books | guardian.co.uk

Famous for the wrong book | Books | guardian.co.uk

Here's an interesting discussion point from the Guardian blog. Many authors are known for one book - but write better ones that aren't as popular or as acclaimed.

Not sure I can comment on any of the authors mentioned here, but it is a cute parlour game. The Dickens I loved the best was Dombey and Son, but it often gets overlooked on the best of lists. Similarly, Tender is the Night, hardly unknown mind you, was so much better than The Great Gatsby.

Of course there is no rule to this. Often writers become known for one book simply because that book is very good - and their other work not quite of the same level. I wouldn't complain too much. Better to write one great novel and ten not so good ones than not to write at all.