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Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>

Willa Cather's Lesbian 'Shame': Finally Put to Rest in Letters?

Debate about her 'sexual psychology' has raged for years

(Newser) - Willa Cather's letters are coming to print after decades of scholarly frustration and debate about her sexuality, the New York Times reports. But be warned: The Selected Letters of Willa Cather, which reveals her emotional attachment to women, is short on steamy details. Still, it reveals a complex, humorous,...

Literary Giant Chinua Achebe Dead at 82

'Things Fall Apart' author gave literary birth to modern Africa

(Newser) - Chinua Achebe, the internationally celebrated Nigerian author, statesman, and dissident who gave literary birth to modern Africa with Things Fall Apart and continued for decades to rewrite and reclaim the history of his native country, has died following a brief illness. He was 82. His eminence worldwide was rivaled only...

French Spy Novelist Is Must Read— for Real Spies

Gerard de Villiers is plugged in: NYT profile

(Newser) - American readers might not be familiar with French spy novelist Gerard de Villiers, unless they happen to work for the CIA. The New York Times has a fascinating profile of the prolific, 83-year-old author, whose racy novels—wildly popular outside the US—have an uncanny ability to provide accurate, inside...

Dan Brown Has New Novel Coming in May

Brown-esque stunt helps launch 'Inferno' publicity blitz

(Newser) - Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown is bringing back fictional code-breaker Robert Langdon in a new novel in May. Inferno will center on Dante, taking its name from the first part of his 14th-century work, The Divine Comedy. Brown and Doubleday announced the title today in a social media stunt...

Author: Find My Dog, I'll Name Character After You

Best-selling writer Dennie Lehane's beagle has gone missing

(Newser) - Author Dennis Lehane is offering an unusual reward for the person who finds his family's beloved missing beagle: He'll name a character in his next book after whoever finds Tessa, who disappeared from the family's home in Brookline, Mass., this week. He says on his Facebook page...

Big Find: Hans Christian Andersen's 'First Work'

'The Tallow Candle' likely written when writer was 18

(Newser) - A Danish historian has found what he believes is an early Hans Christian Anderson manuscript buried at the bottom of a box in the National Archives of Funen. "I was ecstatic," the historian says. "I had never imagined this." The handwritten story, titled "Tallow Candle,...

National Book Award Goes to Louise Erdrich

Manhattan ceremony goes glam

(Newser) - Louise Erdrich's novel Round House won the National Book Award last night, beating out big-name contenders like Junot Diaz and Dave Eggers. Erdrich's book tells the story of a teenage boy's confrontation with violence on a North Dakota reservation, the New York Times reports. "This is...

Literary Nobel Goes to Chinese Author Mo Yan

Writer's work 'oft-banned, widely pirated'

(Newser) - Applauding the "hallucinatoric realism" of his work, the Swedish Academy has awarded China's Mo Yan the Nobel Prize for Literature. The author "merges folk tales, history, and the contemporary," judges said. Time magazine has called Mo "one of the most famous, oft-banned, and widely pirated...

Lena Dunham's Final Book Deal Figure: $3.5M

Creator of HBO's 'Girls' writing debut essay collection

(Newser) - The crazy bidding is over for Lena Dunham's hotly anticipated debut book, and the 26-year-old's deal is with Random House for more than $3.5 million, the New York Times reports. Dunham, the creator and star of HBO's Girls, covers topics including work, friendship, and sex...

Bidding for HBO Star's Book Now at $3.6M

Lena Dunham riding success of 'Girls'

(Newser) - If you wanted proof that Lena Dunham qualifies for the "rising young star" label, Deadline.com has it: Bidding for her book proposal Not That Kind of Girl: Advice by Lena Dunham is at $3.6 million and counting, the site reports. The 26-year-old Dunham is the creator and...

JK Rowling's New Book Tops Bestseller Charts

'Casual Vacancy' knocks '50 Shades' off top spot

(Newser) - JK Rowling has soared back to the top of the bestseller lists faster than a flying broomstick with her first book aimed at adults. Despite mixed reviews, The Casual Vacancy is at the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, it outsold the second-place fiction...

New Conan Doyle Tale to Be Published: His Own

Diary from year spent at sea shows young writer at work

(Newser) - A 20-year-old runs away from his medical studies in Victorian Britain to spend a perilous year as a ship's doctor on an Arctic whaler. It may sound like a ripping yarn, but a previously unpublished book by Arthur Conan Doyle actually tells his own story. The British Library is...

Gore Vidal Dead at 86
 Gore Vidal Dead at 86 
OBITUARY
Aug 1, 2012 4:00 AM CDT

Gore Vidal Dead at 86

Outspoken man of letters dies after long illness

(Newser) - Celebrated American man of letters Gore Vidal has died at the age of 86 after a long illness. Vidal—a novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and political commentator—died of complications from pneumonia at his home in the Hollywood Hills, reports AP . In his long career, he penned 25 novels, including...

Irish Author Maeve Binchy Dead at 72
 Irish Author 
 Maeve Binchy 
 Dead at 72 
obituary
Jul 31, 2012 6:25 AM CDT

Irish Author Maeve Binchy Dead at 72

Ireland mourns 'national treasure'

(Newser) - Beloved Irish writer Maeve Binchy has died at age 72 in Dublin, following a brief illness, the Irish Times reports. Binchy's books, among them short-story collections and the novel-turned-movie Circle of Friends, have sold more than 40 million copies, and addressed the tensions of a modernizing Irish society, the...

Encyclopedia Brown Creator Dead at 87

 Encyclopedia Brown 
 Creator Dead at 87 
OBITUARY
Jul 17, 2012 12:03 AM CDT

Encyclopedia Brown Creator Dead at 87

Donald J. Sobol wrote dozens of books starring boy detective

(Newser) - Donald J. Sobol, creator of the enduring popular Encyclopedia Brown children's detective series, has written his last case. Sobol, who has died at the age of 87, wrote a total of 28 books in the best-selling series, starting in 1963 and finishing with Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of ...

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Has Dementia

Brother says Nobel laureate author is done writing

(Newser) - The younger brother of Gabriel Garcia Marquez says the Nobel laureate is suffering from dementia at age 85, reports the BBC . The author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera phones frequently to ask for help with basic daily tasks, says Jaime Garcia Marquez....

RIP, Ray Bradbury
 RIP, Ray Bradbury 
tributes
Jun 6, 2012 12:24 PM CDT

RIP, Ray Bradbury

He elevated science fiction into the mainstream

(Newser) - A sampling of the salutes being directed toward Ray Bradbury, who has died at age 91:
  • Gerald Jonas, New York Times : "By many estimations Mr. Bradbury was the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream."
  • Lynell George, Los Angeles Times : "Bradbury was
...

RIP Maurice Sendak
 RIP Maurice Sendak 
tributes
May 8, 2012 4:04 PM CDT

RIP Maurice Sendak

Admirers count the ways revered kids' author will be missed

(Newser) - A sample of the tributes to Where the Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak, who died today at 83:
  • Andrew Leonard, Salon : Parents who loved Sendak's books as kids (like Leonard) read them to their own kids with even greater zeal. Thus, "Sendak planted an immortal virus in
...

Wild Things Author Maurice Sendak Dead at 83

Died from complications from a recent stroke

(Newser) - Maurice Sendak, author/illustrator of the beloved Where the Wild Things Are, has died at age 83, reports the New York Times . The cause was complications from a recent stroke, says his editor. The Times offers a glowing profile of Sendak and the many books he was known for penning and...

Stephen King: Raise My F***ing Taxes Already

The rich aren't going to pay up just to be nice

(Newser) - Stephen King is following Warren Buffett's lead with an op-ed begging to be taxed more—though King drops in a few more F-bombs in his very salty appeal. In "Tax Me, for F***'s Sake," the wealthy author offers his views on his fellow one-percenters: "The...

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