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Posts Tagged ‘book news’

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Do the National Book Foundation's new procedures for choosing finalists crowd out small-press writers?

This week, the National Book Foundation revised the procedures for choosing National Book Award winners. Previously, lists of five finalists were announced in the weeks leading up to the awards. The new template involves “long-listing” ten finalists in each category, to create more buzz about the possible winners, NBF representatives say. The pool of judges will also expand to include critics and booksellers. Does this sound familiar? It should. The NBF has borrowed ideas from the Booker Prize as well as the Oscars. Initially, Morgan Entrekin, the vice president of the NBF board and Grove/ Atlantic Press CEO, caused a […]


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Jonathan Franzen on the cover of TIME

by Celeste Ng

Jonathan Franzen is on the cover of the August 23 issue of TIME Magazine, with an article marking the publication of his latest novel, Freedom. Since he’s the first living author to be so featured in over a decade (the last being Stephen King), it’s caused quite a stir in the lit world. In particular, the caption below Franzen’s photo is catching some snark. The L.A. Times notes: Franzen appears on the cover of the upcoming issue of Time magazine — an honor not extended to a living author since Stephen King in 2000 — with the words “Great American […]


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Ralph Nader: Activist. Perennial presidential candidate/spoiler. Novelist?

by Celeste Ng

Seven Stories Press has just released Nader’s novel, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, in which Yoko Ono, Warren Buffet, Ted Turner, Bill-Cosby, Paul Newman, and other influential figures meet, Justice-League style, to defeat bad guys Lancelot Lobo, Brover Dortquist, and corporate CEOs. In an author’s note, Nader himself writes: This book is not a novel. Nor is it nonfiction. In the literary world, it might be described as “a practical utopia.” I call it a fictional vision that could become a new reality. Some known and not-well-known people appear in fictional roles. I invite your imaginative engagement. If that […]



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