Iris Murdoch and her husband, John Bailey
The last time I visited Auntie’s in Spokane, I nearly ran into a pillar. Thankfully, no one seemed to be watching. Also, that pillar was covered with staff-recommended books. The one closest to my head, which would have left its imprint on my forehead if I hadn’t snapped out of my daydream in time, was The Bell by Iris Murdoch.
I’d seen the movie Iris a couple of times (it features three of my very favorite actors–Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, and Jim Broadbent–who were, incidentally, all nominated for Oscars for their performances in this film) but had never encountered any of Dame Iris’s books before, so naturally I was curious.
For a book written by a noted philosopher, The Bell is surprisingly easy to read. The prose bears the marks of its time (some overwriting, adjective stacking, etc.) and at times, Murdoch does use some of the trademark tools of the philosophical novel (long speeches delivered by characters, stretches of philosophical internal monologue). But overall, she lets the reader figure out the message for him/herself–and I appreciated that. Read more »
We could probably convince Mark Knopfler that writing a book isn’t exactly “money for nothin’” and these authors aren’t playing “the guitar on MTV,” but other than that it’s pretty close to the Dire Straits song. Okay, so you might have to use your imagination to hear “Hawaiian noises” and see “bangin’ on the bongos like a chimpanzee,” but as music artists of earlier decades had to make videos for MTV to create hits, authors now put book trailers on YouTube to keep up with the Joneses—actually, the Roberts and the Pattersons. In other words, it’s not enough for writers to worry whether we are photogenic enough for the book jacket portrait, now we can also be anxious about appearing natural on film.
Pamela Paul of the New York Times wrote an article earlier this month about the book trailer phenomena:
…the trailer is fast becoming an essential component of online marketing. Asked to draw on often nonexistent acting skills, authors are holding forth for anything from 30 seconds to 6 minutes, frequently to the tune of stock guitar strumming, soulful violin or klezmer music. And now, those who once worried about no one reading their books can worry about no one watching their trailers. (A mother still nursing her 8-year-old: 25,864,943 views; recent best-selling maternal memoirist: 5,124 views.)
Read more »
Tags: Book Trailer, Dennis Cass, Gary Shteyngart, Jeannette Walls, Kelly Corrigan, Mary Karr, Shakira
art, awards, books, consumerism, culture, editing and publishing, writing
would the trojan horse have bested the adobe cliff dwellings of mesa verde for the pritzker architecture prize of 1200 BC?
by most accounts, it seems that jg farrell’s “troubles” was/is a worthy choice for the booker prize—of 1970. who exactly was clamoring that mr. farrell, or anyone for that matter, be retroactively awarded this prize is something of a mystery to me. are we really so obsessed with lists and rankings of art that we’re actively looking for even more reasons to give out awards that we already have? you know, because what we really need, in addition to the booker prize, and national book award, and pen/faulkner award, and nobel prize, and newberry medal, and the pulitzer, and the who knows what else, is the 19th century version of all those awards. i’m just dying to know which had more literary merit in 1846: poe’s “tales” or melville’s “typee: a peep at polynesian life.“ if 1970 is seriously the best place we can focus our critical faculties right now in regards to novels, maybe david shields is right.
Got this from Brandon.
Willow Springs is 39 (shared with ZZYVA) on Perpetual Folly (Cliff Garstang) list of 2010 Pushcart Prize Rankings.
…the following list looks only at the Pushcart Prizes awarded and Special Mentions in Fiction since 2000. Awards before that date are less relevant, it seems to me, in determining the relative quality of magazines publishing today….I am not considering Non-fiction or Poetry in this analysis….I’m also not looking at other fine volumes such as the O. Henry Prizes or the Best American Short Stories….So: just Pushcarts and Special Mentions in Fiction since 2000….My formula counts a certain number of points for a prize and a smaller number of points for a special mention.
Yay for us!
For the first time ever, an online-only publication has received a Pulitzer Prize. Sheri Fink of ProPublica shares the Investigative Reporting category prise with Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Although Fink’s article about “the urgent life-and-death decisions made by one hospital’s exhausted doctors when they were cut off by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina.” was co-published by The New York Times Magazine, it originally appeared as an online article in a publication that has no print version.
Any thoughts on what this means for the future of online publishing and the ongoing electronic vs print publishing debate?
The Orange Prize for Fiction bronze figurine called the "Bessie"
Daisy Goodwin, the chair of this year’s judges panel for the Orange Prize for Fiction, received harsh criticism when she announced the 2010 long list for the price on March 17. It wasn’t the judges’ selections that people had problems with; it was Goodwin’s comment about women’s fiction not being much fun to read anymore. “There’s not been much with and not much joy, there’s a lot of grimness out there,” she told The Guardian and added:
There are a lot of books about Asian sisters. There are a lot of books that start with a rape. Pleasure seems to have become a rather neglected element in publishing.
That comment earned her accusations of being a racist. Read more »
Your Book Could Be Next
Like so many publishers that deserve our attention today, Exquisite Disarray, is a non-profit. They deserve our attention because they are publishing beautiful, thoughtful, image-rich, linguistically refined art. Non-profit publishers don’t need to sell their works in large numbers–don’t need to appeal to the boorish majority–because they are able to convince entities to donate money. In this case, the Tacoma Arts Commission is a primary funder.
So far, Exquisite Disarray, which was started in 2008, has published two books, In Tahoma’s Shadow: Poems from the City of Destiny, an anthology of poems about Tacoma, and Fallow, a book of poems by William Kupinse. Exquisite Disarray is ready to publish its third book, a book of poems by a Washington writer. Manuscripts are due by May 15th, and will be read anonymously. The judge is Kathleen Flennikan, who, in addition to being a widely applauded writer and president/co-editor of Floating Bridge Press, published a poem in Willow Springs issue 61 (“Mosquito Truck”). The Exquisite Disarray book contest is the only one I know of that doesn’t ask for a reading fee. (I’d love to be proven wrong about this.) Read more »
There was a change of the rules for the Man Booker Prize in 1971 which prevented any books published in 1970 from ever being eligible for the award. In case you missed it, they’re going retro. There’s a longlist of 22 books from 1970 that’ll be narrowed to a shortlist of six on March 25th. You’ll be able to vote online for your fave after the announcement. Who’s your frontrunner?
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