literature

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German Novelist Herta Mueller Wins Nobel for Literature

Romanian-born writer explores themes of exile, dictatorship

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize in literature was awarded today to Herta Mueller, a Romanian-born German novelist and poet whose work has explored the brutality of life under the Ceausescu dictatorship. Deprived of her job and threatened by the regime, she fled to Germany in 1987. The Land of Green Plums, published...

Angelou Alive, Well, Despite Reports

TMZ reports poet's illness, Twitterers add 'RIP'

(Newser) - Contrary to reports by TMZ and scores of Tweets and re-Tweets, Maya Angelou is alive and well. The gossip site reported over the weekend that the poet missed a Los Angeles awards show because she had been hospitalized. In fact, she hadn't been invited to the presentation. The mix-up exhibited...

Letters Reveal Byron's Feud With 'Turdsworth'

Unpublished correspondence up for sale

(Newser) - A collection of letters written by Lord Byron to a clergyman, some of them unpublished, sheds new light on the Romantic poet—who discloses his sexual escapades with servants and angry opinions of fellow writers. Several letters refer to a serving girl whom he took as his mistress; he dumped...

Most Hypocritical Book Bannings

(Newser) - Banning a book is a move laden with ironies that can make the banner seem dull-witted in the long run. For National Banned Books Week, 11Points.com lists "the most hypocritical, ignorant, and, based on the content of the books, ironic" bans:
  • Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury: The sci-fi
...

Ralph Nader Pens Odd Utopian Novel
Ralph Nader Pens Odd Utopian Novel
new release
Sep 21, 2009 6:52 PM CDT

Ralph Nader Pens Odd Utopian Novel

Super-rich save the world in 736-page 'fictional vision'

(Newser) - Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate and sometime presidential candidate, has written his first novel, the New Yorker reports. Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, out tomorrow, is a “practical utopia” in which real-life characters undertake a fictional quest to—progressively—save the country. Over the course of its 736...

Rightwing Pundits Belong on the Fiction Lists
 Rightwing Pundits Belong
on the Fiction Lists
OPINION
Sep 12, 2009 2:04 PM CDT

Rightwing Pundits Belong on the Fiction Lists

Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin have crafted paranoid masterpieces

(Newser) - Salon writer Steve Almond has seen the future of literary fiction and it looks like Glenn Beck. Right-wing pundits like Beck and Michelle Malkin have dominated non-fiction bestseller lists since President Obama took office, Almond notes. A close read finds that their works aren't the "psychotic, fact-challenged rants of...

Coetzee Leads Heavy-Hitting Booker Prize Shortlist

Veterans outpace first-timers for prestigious literary gong

(Newser) - JM Coetzee may become the first author to win the Man Booker Prize three times after his fictionalized memoir Summertime made the prestigious literary award's shortlist today. The South African writer's new book takes the form of interviews by a biographer writing about "the late author John Coetzee."...

Kids Pick Their Own Books in Classroom Revolution
Kids Pick Their Own Books in Classroom Revolution
ANALYSIS
Aug 29, 2009 4:11 PM CDT

Kids Pick Their Own Books in Classroom Revolution

But will Harry Potter beat out the Bard?

(Newser) - To Kill a Mockingbird or Captain Underpants? The choice, for most middle school students, is a no-brainer—and an increasingly prevalent one now that schools from New York to Seattle hope to revolutionize English classes by letting students choose their own books, the New York Times reports. The approach, known...

Modern Novels' Shift: We Can Understand Them

Literary writers are re-embracing idea of a good plot

(Newser) - The 21st-century novel is being reacquainted with an old friend: the plot. Today's best writers are abandoning the notion that literary novels need to be all but impenetrable to readers without advanced degrees, writes Lev Grossman in the Wall Street Journal. "The revolution is under way," he says....

Americans Read Over President's Shoulder

Obama's vacation book list drives leaps in Amazon sales rankings

(Newser) - President Obama’s poll numbers are faltering, but his summer reading choices are getting rave reviews, Politico reports. A survey of the Amazon.com standings of the five books the White House announced he would take with him on his Martha’s Vineyard vacation show a drastic improvement in sales....

How Recession Could Kill Chick Lit
 How Recession 
 Could Kill Chick Lit 
OPINION
Aug 11, 2009 2:27 PM CDT

How Recession Could Kill Chick Lit

Fluffy novels 'must respond to a more sober age'

(Newser) - The world of chick lit is populated with material concerns and hefty price tags—but in today’s battered economy, such themes may no longer resonate, writes author Sarah Bilston for DoubleX. Her latest book's “cheery consumerism and aimless career-dithering were clearly out of touch in a world of...

Has Tweeting Ruined Reading?
 Has Tweeting Ruined Reading? 
Aug 10, 2009 7:50 AM CDT

Has Tweeting Ruined Reading?

(Newser) - The digital world has become so engrossing that David L Ulin finds it difficult to focus and read a book—not a good sign when you're the editor of the Los Angeles Times book review. "The encroachment of the buzz," from hours of emails to inane rumors across...

Tap Literary Greatness at These Getaways

(Newser) - Looking to vacation in a spot that inspired your favorite novel? USA Today asks travel expert Melissa Biggs Bradley about the best hotels to connect physically with the literature.
  • The Resort at Paws Up, Greenough, Mont.: "The Blackfoot River, which runs through this 37,000-acre ranch, is the river
...

Dumbledore Sparks Fight for Real-World Justice

Nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance uses books as inspiration

(Newser) - Harry Potter’s battle against injustice in the wizarding world has prompted fans to take the fight to the Muggle universe, the Los Angeles Times reports. Inspired by moral teachings of Albus Dumbledore, Harry’s mentor, the nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance has registered voters, collected some 13,000 books to...

Spoiled Harry a Hero for 'Entitled Generation'

Books lack moral weight as Potter gets off easy

(Newser) - Harry Potter is a fitting hero for a generation of readers: his powers arrive on a silver platter, and from there it’s “all zapping bad guys, no taking out the trash,” writes Kyle Smith in the New York Post. While heroes like Luke Skywalker face obstacles to...

Vatican Warms to Wilde
 Vatican 
 Warms 
 to Wilde 
OPINION
Jul 17, 2009 9:38 AM CDT

Vatican Warms to Wilde

Paper praises writer's 'lucid' analysis of his world

(Newser) - The Vatican long regarded Oscar Wilde as a “dissolute homosexual,” but things have changed, writes Richard Owen in the Times of London. A review in the Vatican newspaper of a study on the Irish writer celebrates him as “one of the personalities of the 19th century who...

Angela's Ashes Author McCourt Gravely Ill

'He is not expected to live,' brother says

(Newser) - Angela's Ashes author Frank McCourt is battling skin cancer and meningitis and is near death, his brother tells the New York Daily News. McCourt, 78, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1996 memoir about growing up in poverty in Ireland, is under hospice care, says his brother Malachy. "...

In Infinite Jest, Book Club Sees Finite Ending

Online group may help you finish Wallace's intimidating tome

(Newser) - As the first anniversary of David Foster Wallace’s death approaches, many would-be readers still see his Infinite Jest collecting dust on their bookshelves. Wallace’s 1,079-page tome “has become known equally for its sprawling attention to detail, its near impenetrability, and its effectiveness as a doorstop,”...

Playboy Wins Rights to Nabokov's Last Novella

(Newser) - The literary event of the year will be sandwiched between nudes in the pages of Playboy this fall, the Independent reports. The magazine won the rights to publish Vladimir Nabokov's final novella—which he ordered to be destroyed after his death—after its literary editor went to great lengths to...

Weird Facts About Best-Selling Authors

Dan Brown, pop musician? And more.

(Newser) - Summer's here, and that means it's time for beach reading. Mental Floss compiles some surprising facts about the authors most commonly toted along to the shore:
  1. Dan Brown hasn’t spent his whole life pondering Vatican conspiracies: he was also a musician and pop singer. The name of his second
...

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