opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

       Premio Strega

       They've announced the winner of this year's Premio Strega, the leading Italian literary prize, and it is Come d'aria by Ada D'Adamo; see also the Elliot Edizioni publicity page. Among the noteworthy points about the winner: she's deceased, having passed away earlier this year. (Many literary prizes won't consider dead authors, from the Nobel to the Booker.)
       It was a pretty narrow win -- the winning title got 185 votes, to 170 for La traversata notturna by Andrea Canobbio; those two were ahead of the rest of the pack, with more than twice the votes the fourth-place title got.

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       Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction

       They've announced that this year's Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction will go to ... George Saunders.
       The choice was apparently up to the Librarian of Congress -- Carla Hayden, who selected Saunders from "more than 88 distinguished literary figures".
       Saunders will be honored on 12 August.

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       CWA Daggers

       The Crime Writers' Association has announced the winners of this year's CWA Dagger Awards.
       The CWA Gold Dagger went to The Kingdoms of Savannah, by George Dawes Green
       The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger went to Even the Darkest Night by Javier Cercas, in Anne McLean's translation.

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       Caine Prize finalists

       They've announced the five works shortlisted for this year's AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, a leading short story prize for African writers.
       You can read the stories -- in the dreaded pdf format -- here.
       The winner will be announced 2 October.

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       German publishing numbers, 2022

       At Börsenblatt Christina Schulte runs down the German publishing numbers for 2022.
       Turnover was down -- but up in three categories, including 'Belletristik' (basically, adult fiction) and, especially, travel books (up 16.5 per cent).
       E-book sales were up slightly, but are still only 6 per cent of the market; while growth in audiobooks has continued to be strong.
       Disappointingly, the number of book-buyers continues to decline -- down to 39 per cent of the population age ten and over.
       At least the number of titles published has increased, after dropping precipitously in 2021; in 2022 64,278 new titles were published.
       The number of translated titles published was up an impressive 8 per cent, to 9403; unfortunately, they don't offer a more detailed breakdown of what languages these are from.
       Meanwhile, interest in German titles abroad declined steeply -- down 14.4 per cent, to 6655 titles sold abroad.

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       Miki Liukkonen (1989-2023)

       Up and coming Finnish author Miki Liukkonen has passed away; see the (Finnish) WSOY press release or the AFP report, Finnish literary star Miki Liukkonen dies aged 33.
       None of his work appears to have been translated into English yet, but his massive O, which made several prize-shortlists, was recently translated into French and seems to have made quite an impression; see also the Bonnier rights page for it.
       See also the WSOY author page for more information about him and his works.

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       Acquiring and editing translations

       At the Booker Prizes site: "Max Porter explains the process behind the publication of The Vegetarian", the Han Kang novel, in Max Porter on publishing The Vegetarian: 'Everyone agreed that this was an important book'.

       So much to say about this ... and to shake one's (or at least my) head at the publishing-acquisition-process, especially of foreign works. Really, it's amazing this 'business' works at all ..... (But, as I've often noted, I obviously don't understand it at all.)
       Admirably, Porter does address many of the issues around publishing literature in translation -- and this particular book.
       Still, I have... difficulties with Porter's admission:

I edited the translation, which surprised the author. I believe that a book being re-written in a new language deserves and benefits from editorial scrutiny in that language, so we tweaked a few things. It is a different book, needing different pacing, different tools for exposition, dialogue and lyricism as well as for political, social or emotional specificity. Korean and English are also profoundly different languages, so there is no point striving for fidelity or exactitude; the translator needs to create a new but related book that succeeds as an English language novel.

       'A new but related book' ? I know this is the popular and prevailing view of translation nowadays -- and Porter admits: "The book found many readers, which is the most important thing". Of course: publishing is a business -- even for all those so-called non-profits ... -- and if books are your product, you want to find readers (well book-buyers, but close enough ...); you want to make your product as consumer-friendly as possible.
       I understand that (as-close-as-possible-)fidelity-to-the-text in translation is way out of fashion nowadays -- but I wish the pendulum were swinging a bit more back in that direction, especially with texts from more 'foreign' languages and cultures. What I'd give for more books that were truer to the original (yes, yes, I know that's a complicated-verging-on-silly concept ....), rather than crowd-pleasing adaptations .....
       Much as I love translators and what they do, and I know they are doing (most of the time ...) what they think is best for the text and its potential readers, and as pleased as I am that they are getting more recognition -- including acknowledgment of their part in (re)creating the work on the covers of books and elsewhere --, deep down I long for the invisibility of the translator. Mind you, I've long also argued for the invisibility of the author -- I think far too much attention is paid to who the writer is, and that biography (and head-shots) play much too large a role in the reception of books.
       The text is what matters, only the text -- and, yes, I know that the idea of 'original' or 'definitive' texts is ... problematic, especially when dealing with translation. But still, but still .....

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       Peter Bieri (1944-2023)

       Swiss philosopher Peter Bieri -- better-known under the name under which he published his novels, Pascal Mercier -- has passed away; see, for example, the SWI swissinfo.ch report.
       His best-known novel is under review at the complete review -- Night Train to Lisbon.

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       VCU Cabell Award

       I missed this last week, but they've announced the winner of this year's VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and it is The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty, which has already racked up quite a few awards, including the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction. And it is just out in paperback.
       I haven't seen this yet, but see the publicity pages from Vintage and Oneworld, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or Amazon.co.uk.

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       Rodrigo Rey Rosa Q & A

       At The Brooklyn Rail Tobias Carroll has a Q & A with Rodrigo Rey Rosa, whose The Country of Toó is due out shortly from Biblioasis; see also their publicity page
       I have a copy of this one and should be getting to it soon; three of his titles are already under review at the complete review; e.g. Severina.

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       Personal review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Lee Child's nineteenth Jack Reacher novel, the 2014 Personal.

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       The Millions' 'Most Anticipated'

       At The Millions they now have their list of the Most Anticipated: The Great 2023B Book Preview for the second half of the year, with 171 titles on offer.
       US-focused, of course -- and while there are certainly many titles of interest, note that there are a lot more to look out for.

       Among the biggest missing titles: Dalkey Archive Press' re-issue of Marguerite Young's Miss MacIntosh, My Darling; see their publicity page. (They do list the Dalkey re-issue of David Markson's Wittgenstein's Mistress.)
       Also; two from Other Press (which I recently got ARCs of): Mohamed Mbougar Sarr's prix Goncourt-winning The Most Secret Memory of Men (publicity page) and Giuliano da Empoli's already much-discussed The Wizard of the Kremlin (publicity page).
       And what about Michael Brodsky's Invidicum, coming from Tough Poets Press (publicity page) ?

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       Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis

       They held the Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur -- 'days of German literature' -- over the weekend. The centerpiece is the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, where authors read out their texts and are judged on the spot; this year's winner is Valeria Gordeev. with the text Er putzt (warning ! dreaded pdf format !).

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       French publishing numbers, 2022

       The French publishers' association -- the Syndicat national de l’édition -- has now published the publishing-numbers (chiffre d'affaires des éditeurs) for France for 2022 -- see the (French) summary, or download the summary report. (The full report is only available to subscribers.)
       Apparently 2021 was a banner year -- that's how they're spinning all the declines in 2022. Units shifted fell from 486.1 million (2021) to 448.5 million (2022).
       Title-wise, the number of new titles fell (from 39,903 to 38,743), while re-issues rose (69,577 to 72,760) -- but the number of copies of those new titles remained basically unchanged, while 6.14 per cent fewer copies of re-issues were sold in 2022,
       E-books saw some gains, but still make up only 10.32 per cent of all books sold.
       Of particular interest: the translation numbers. The total number of translations was down -- to 11,185, from 12,360 in 2021 -- with a stunning 58.7 per cent translations from English (a total of 6,562 titles). The second most-translated-from language was Japanese, at 17.6% -- way ahead of third-place German (4.5 per cent). Of course, the Japanese totals were helped by graphic works -- 1,794 of the 1,967 translations from Japanese were 'bande dessinée'. (Sixty per cent of the graphic translations were translations from the Japanese.)
       Fiction made up 28 per cent of all translations, 'bande dessinée' 26, and children's/YA works 12 (dominated by translations from the English -- 76 per cent).

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       Khaled Khalifa Q & A

       In The Observer Michael Safi has a Q & A with Syrian author Khaled Khalifa: ‘All the places of my childhood are destroyed’.
       His work is apparently banned in Syria -- though he has continued to live in Damascus even the past few years.

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       Rentrée littéraire numbers

       The 'rentrée littéraire', when French publishers flood the market with their top fiction offerings, is set to start next month, and Livres Hebdo have the first numbers: there will be 321 French novels (74 of them debuts) and 145 in translation.
       The total of 466 is down some five per cent from last year's total of 490, and continues a longtime decline -- and is far from the 2010 record of 701 titles ..... Not a great sign .....
       See, for example, the AFP report at Le Figaro , La rentrée littéraire de 2023 est «la moins prolifique du siècle».

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       New Hungarian books

       At hlo they offer a: "selection from the 645 new books launched for the Festive Book Week, recommended by Csaba Károlyi, deputy editor-in-chief of literary and cultural periodical Élet és irodalom", in New Releases from the 2023 Festive Book Week
       Quite a selection; maybe we'll see some of these in English eventually.

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       Through Three Rooms review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of An Asbjørn Krag Mystery by Sven Elvestad, Through Three Rooms -- recently out from new micro-press Kabaty Press

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       Society of Authors' Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's batch of Society of Authors' Awards -- many categories; some thirty winners.

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       Locus Awards

       The Locus Science Fiction Foundation announced the winners of this year's Locus Awards a few days a go; among the categories are science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

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       Dante Alighieri's Publishing Company review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Eric Lane's just re-issued 1985 novel, Dante Alighieri's Publishing Company.

       Lane is one of the founders and publisher of Dedalus -- and this is the fictionalized story of the founding and early days of Dedalus.

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       New World Literature Today

       The July-August issue of World Literature Today is now available online -- including with the always-of-interest book review section

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       Constantijn Huygens-prijs

       They've announced the winner of this year's Constantijn Huygens Prize, the leading Dutch-language author prize, and it is Anjet Daanje.
       None of her work appears to have been published in English yet, but De herinnerde soldaat should be coming out from New Vessel Press -- and no doubt we will see a translation of Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris as well (see also the Dutch Foundation for Literature information page).

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       Borges' literary estate

       When Jorge Luis Borges' widow, María Kodama, died earlier this year she did not leave a will -- thus also leaving the Borges literary estate in limbo. Now AP reports that Rights to the works of Argentine literary giant Jorge Luis Borges granted to his widow’s nephews.
       Since "Kodama's longtime lawyer, Fernando Soto" admits: "he was "surprised to find out she had nephews,"" it would appear they had not been ... a big part of the handling of Borges' work to date. Which, given Kodama's handling of it may not be an altogether bad thing ..... Still, there are five of them, so let's hope they can all get on the same page. (It'll be intersting to see if they keep on Andrew Wylie as literary agent for the estate .....)

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       Warwick Prize submissions

       The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation admirably does what far too few literary prizes do: reveal all the books that are actually in the running for the prize. The list of this year's eligible submissions is now available, here (warning ! dreaded pdf format !).
       There are 153 titles, originally written in 32 languages -- led by French and Spanish, with 26 each. The biggest surprise to me is that Japanese only ranks eighth, with six titles (behind even Catalan) -- it's really seemed to me that a lot more fiction by female Japanese authors was coming out in translation.

       I have never understood why literary prizes do not reveal what titles are actually being considered and remind you that any which does not -- from the Bookers to the Pulitzer to far too many others -- is suspect.

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       Julia, oder die Gemälde reviews

       The most recent additions to the complete review are my reviews of Arno Schmidt's final, unfinished novel, Julia, oder die Gemälde: Scenen aus dem Novecento, and Susanne Fischer on Arno Schmidts Zettelkasten zu Julia, oder die Gemälde, »Julia, laß das!«.

       (I was fortunate enough to get a review copy of the Schmidt novel -- back in the day. I know it's not much of a consolation to publishers, who like coverage to go up quickly -- but, hey, better late than never, right? Yes, it took 7795 days between my getting the book and my posting a review ... so never give up hope .....)

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       Premi de Literatura Eròtica

       They've announced the winner of this year's Premi de Literatura Eròtica La Vall d'Albaida -- a Valencian prize awarded for the twenty-ninth time -- and it is No vull que m’ho conten, by Lourdes Toledo Lorente, selected from 40 submissions.
       See also the list of previous winners.

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       Fontane-Literaturpreis finalists

       They've announced the five finalists for this year's Fontane-Literaturpreis, a German literary prize for up and coming authors, meant to provide the winner with the opportunity to dedicate themselves to writing for two years. At €40,000 it is one of the richest German literary prizes.
       The winner will be announced 24 August.

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       Animal Farm in Zimbabwe

       At BBC News Lucy Fleming reports on how Zimbabwe's obsession with Animal Farm as novel gets Shona translation, as House of Books has now brought Orwell's novel out as Chimurenga Chemhuka, see also their publicity page.
       Author Petina Gappah translated this with poet Tinashe Muchuri -- with considerable input from many others -- with Gappah noting:

Gappah said they had been able to bring added depth, meaning and humour for readers as their characters use the different Shona dialects spoken around Zimbabwe.

       At The Conversation Tinashe Mushakavanhu also reported on this a couple of weeks ago, in Animal Farm has been translated into Shona -- why a group of Zimbabwean writers undertook the task.
       As Mushakavanhu notes: "too few great books are available in the country's indigenous languages", so hopefully more will follow.

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       Summer reading

       In The Guardian they offer their annual look at Summer books: Zadie Smith, Ian Rankin, Richard Osman and others pick their favourites.
       M John Harrison's Wish I Was Here gets two mentions -- from Olivia Laing and Jonathan Coe -- but, alas, no US edition in sight yet .....

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       AI-written fiction

       At Slate Ken Liu considers the potential of LLMs (large language models) generating fiction, in The Imitation Game also in reaction to Jeff Hewitt's The Big Four v. ORWELL, which also looks at some of the issues raised by their potential.

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       MCC takeover of Libri

       In Hungary the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (!) has taken a controlling interest in leading Hungarian publisher and bookseller Libri Group -- see the official press release.
       This is not seen as a great development: see Philip Oltermann 's report on how Authors leave Hungarian publisher in protest at sale to Orbán-linked college in The Guardian.

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       American literature abroad

       In Publishers Weekly Ed Nawotka reports that European Book Fairs Want American Literature -- but, since: "The U.S. doesn’t need to promote its literature abroad; everyone already buys rights to its books", American publishers aren't really very active on the international book fair circuit.

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       Bookforum revived

       Bookforum is -- or soon will be -- back, as The Nation Leads the Relaunch of Bookforum.
       The first new issue will appear in August.

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       Orwell Prizes

       They've announced the winners of this year's Orwell Prizes, including the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, which went to The New Life, by Tom Crewe.

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       Days at the Morisaki Bookshop review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Yagisawa Satoshi's Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, now also coming out in English.

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       Robert Plunket profile(s)

       New Directions has brought out a new edition of Robert Plunket's 1983 novel My Search for Warren Harding -- see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or Amazon.co.uk --, a revival that has been getting a lot of attention.
       Alexandra Alter wrote about Taking a Late-in-Life Victory Lap, Thanks to His Novel’s ‘Lunatic Energy’ [$] in The New York Times, and now Pam Daniel writes, in Sarasota, the magazine for which Plunket has long written, on how The Literary World Is Finally Embracing Robert Plunket. Sarasota Has Known He’s a Genius for Decades.
       See also recent pieces in the Observer -- Sarasota gossip columnist gets a new lease on life -- and at The Paris Review's The Daily weblog -- Who Was Robert Plunket ?

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       Japanese summer reading

       At Metropolis Iain Maloney offers an overview of: "a few Japanese and Japan-related books" in making up Your Summer Reading List 2023.
       I haven't seen any of these yet.

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       Arno Schmidt exhibit

       At the Arno Schmidt Stiftung they have an exhibit up through 17 June 2024 on 'Arno Schmidt and some of his admirers', "»›Leser‹ ? – achduliebergott.«" ('Redaers ? ohmydeargod.), exploring the relationship of Schmidt and some of his readers and fans; this looks like a lot of fun.
       There's been some German newspaper coverage, including Michael Martens' report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung..

       (For an introduction to Schmidt, you can always check out my Arno Schmidt: a centennial colloquy.)

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       I Hate Martin Amis et al. review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Peter Barry's 2011 novel, I Hate Martin Amis et al..

       It seemed an appropriate time to get to it .....

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       Peace Prize of the German Book Trade

       They've announced that this year's Peace Prize of the German Book Trade will go to Salman Rushdie; he will receive it at the end of this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, on 22 October.
       Not a surprising choice, but certainly a deserving winner of this prestigious prize.

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       Miles Franklin shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award, one of the leading Australian literary prizes.
       The winner will be announced on 25 July.

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       Russian culture

       In The Observer Kenan Malik makes the case that We can revile Putin's violence in Ukraine, but we're not at war with Russian culture.
       As he notes:

It is one thing to call for the boycott of state institutions or of those acting in an official capacity. It is quite another to argue that The Nutcracker or War and Peace should be banned because their creators were Russian. That is to accept a Putinesque view of the relationship between culture and nation, of Russian culture as belonging to the Russian nation and of defining its soul.

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       The Unseen review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of the first in Roy Jacobsen's The Barrøy Chronicles, The Unseen.

       I have the next three volumes as well, and should be getting to them; the start is certainly very good.

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       'The Black British experience'

       At The Guardian they had a number of: "leading writers, artists, politicians and broadcasters" choose "75 books to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush", in Windrush at 75: books that shaped the black British experience.

       The only one of these titles under review at the complete review is Arthur Japin's The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi.

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       Jean Améry profile

       At Tablet David Mikics profiles the Charles Bovary, Country Doctor-author, in The Horrible and Enlightening Life of Jean Améry.

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       Translating Korean literature

       In The Korea Times Kwak Yeon-soo reports on Translators -- unsung heroes behind globalization of Korean literature -- complete with charts of the number of publications, and the number of languages into which Korean literature is translated (27 in 2022).

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       Translating Tamil literature

       In Frontline Jinoy Jose P. and Saatvika Radhakrishna report on How a textbook department opened new avenues for literature in translation.
       That would be the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation (TNTBESC).
       Interesting that:

The Tamil Nadu government is the first and only State government to undertake such translation initiatives with the goal of spreading literature beyond linguistic barriers. Saravanan emphasised the reciprocal translation process in place, along with collaborations with publishers from different States.

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       EBRD Literature Prize

       The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced the winner of their EBRD Literature Prize, awarded to the: "best work of literary fiction translated into English, originally written in any language of the EBRD's regions where it currently invests, and published for the first time by a European (including UK) publisher", and it is Bianca Bellová's The Lake, in Alex Zucker's translation; see also the Parthian Books publicity page.

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       Walter Scott Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and it is These Days, by Lucy Caldwell.
       See also the Faber publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

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       Pushkin House Book Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Pushkin House Book Prize, awarded to a non-fiction book dealing with Russia in English which combines readability, originality and excellence in research, and it is Overreach, by Owen Matthews.

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       Ariane, a Russian Girl review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of a new translation of Claude Anet's 1920 novel, Ariane, a Russian Girl, coming out from New York Review Books.

       This is the novel that the Billy Wilder movie Love in the Afternoon is based on.

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       Women's Prize for Fiction

       They've announced the winner of this year's Women's Prize for Fiction, and it is Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver -- which also shared this year's Pulitzer Prize.
       I haven't seen this one -- but two major prizes already ......
       See also the publicity pages from Harper and Faber, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or Amazon.co.uk.

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       Europese Literatuurprijs shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's Europese Literatuurprijs, a leading Dutch prize for a work in translation by a European author.
       Four titles are left in the running -- works by Claire-Louise Bennett, Krasznahorkai László, Eva Menasse, and Leïla Slimani.

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       Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: profile

       In The Guardian Carey Baraka has Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: three days with a giant of African literature -- a long profile.

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       Robert Gottlieb (1931-2023)

       Editor Robert Gottlieb, of Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker, has passed away; see, for example, coverage in The New York Times and Publishers Weekly
       In an appreciation in The New Yorker, David Remnick writes that he: "may have been the most important book editor of his time".
       The Paris Review has also taken down the paywall, for now, for Larissa MacFarquhar's Q & A, Robert Gottlieb, The Art of Editing No. 1.

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       Naveen Kishore Q & A

       At My Kolkata Pooja Mitra has a Q & A with the Seagull Books-publisher, ‘Writing is as much a daily practice as publishing’: Naveen Kishore.

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       Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023)

       As widely reported, highly-regarded American author Cormac McCarthy has passed away; see, for example, obituaries in The New York Times and The Guardian..

       None of his work is under review at the complete review -- and I have to admit that I never really took to it (but should certainly explore more of it).

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       Xi Jinping, prolific author

       At the MCLC Resource Center, David Bandurski has a look at His authorship, Xi Jinping, finding that in China: "one writer reigns supreme at the printing press, and in the headlines"..
       Previous Chinese leader Hu Jintao published 1.5 titles per year, Jiang Zemin 1.4 -- while in: "his first decade in power, Xi published an average of 12 unique titles per year". All that while he has a day job, too.
       No novels, though ...... Or poetry (which Mao dabbled in).
       If you're eager to sample some Xi Jinping -- or go all in --, check out the Foreign Language Press site

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       New Executive Editor at Coffee House Press

       At Publishers Weekly Claire Kirch reports that Coffee House Press Names Executive Editor, and an excellent hire it is -- Jeremy Davies. He started off at Dalkey Archive Press, which is already a great pedigree .....
       Coffee House Press has a solid list, and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Hamdi Abu Golayyel (1967-2023)

       As ArabLit reports, Egyptian author Hamdi Abu Golayyel has passed away.
       Several of his works have been translated into English, including the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature-winning A Dog with No Tail; see also the AUC Press publicity page.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Elizabeth Gilbert withdraws book

       Popular American author Elizabeth Gilbert has withdrawn her forthcoming novel, The Snow Forest, from publication, as she explained on Twitter..
       The problem ? It's set in .... (Soviet) Russia. There may be more to this -- I haven't seen the book -- but apparently that's it.
       Gilbert is a (very) commercial author, so I assume she's reading her room right -- but still .....
       This has been widely reported -- see articles at, for example, The Guardian, Vulture, and The Atlantic .
       Impressively, the publishers -- Riverhead in the US and Bloomsbury in the UK -- have pulled the book from their websites already (though there's still a Google cache, as I write this ...). It is also still up at Amazon.co.uk (though not at the US Amazon.)
       It'll be interesting to see when she and her publishers believe it will be publishable again.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize, awarded to a: 'book-length literary translation into English from any living European language', and it is Monica Cure's translation of Liliana Corobca's The Censor's Notebook.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       The New York Times Book Review

       In Publishers Weekly Sophia Stewart looks at how The ‘New York Times Book Review’ Mixes It Up under new editor Gilbert Cruz.
       Among the changes from previous administrations: "It no longer runs “double-reviews” (two reviews by different critics of a single book), which Cruz felt “sends a mixed message to the reader.”".
       And Cruz also says:

One of his primary goals, in this first year at the helm, “is to try a lot of stuff.”

       Stewart notes of the NYTBR that: "print editions have noticeably slimmed down in recent years" -- and, sigh: "Cruz doubts it will ever return to the larger page counts of yore".

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Mrs. S review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of K. Patrick's Mrs. S, recently out from Fourth Estate in the UK and out shortly from Europa Editions in the US.

       This is Patrick's novel-debut; the author was recently named to Granta's latest batch of 'Best of Young British Novelists'.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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