Penguin Classics, those ubiquitous UK paperbacks with the orange covers, have received serious book jacket face-lifts, and sales are now soaring. Penguin UK art director John Hamilton hired England’s best young designers to “perk up 60 of Penguin’s warhorse titles, quadrupling the sales of 20th century greats like Fitzgerald, Forster, and Camus and bringing literature in close proximity to Backstreet Boy biographies.” – Metropolis
Category: words
ANOTHER TIME AROUND
Is it okay that writers cannibalize themselves, reworking or re-releasing a book they’ve previously sent out into the world but dressing it up to look like something new? – New York Times
BAD (BU HAO) BOOK
Zhou Weihui’s book “Shanghai Baby” has sold perhaps 100,000 copies in China, making it something of a hit. But Zhou’s publisher has now had the page proofs and all of the books in stock destroyed, saying that the novel is “in poor taste and that Ms. Zhou, 27, was too outlandish.” State media are denouncing Zhou as “decadent, debauched and a slave of foreign culture” and thousands of copies of the book are being destroyed even while the book seems to have found an audience. – New York Times
FANTASY DEAL
A 17-year-old British high school student has received an advance of $77,000 (US) – believed to be the British record for his age – for his fantasy novel “Heresy,” which he wrote while studying (or at least pretending to) for exams. – The Age (Melbourne)
THE FICTION OF TRUTH
What is the boundary between fiction and non-fiction? Should there be a boundary? Is it arbitrary? A panel at Columbia School of Journalism debates the art of narrative non-fiction. – New York Times
HOW DO PEOPLE READ?
Researchers plan the first study of “how digital texts impact teaching, research, and learning. They also want to determine whether digital books will replace or supplement printed texts.” – Wired
POETRY MAKES A COMEBACK
Poetry evenings have been flourishing in Israel as “an alternative form of cultural entertainment.” – Haaretz (Israel)
A JURY OF YOUR PEERS
Is novelist Martin Amis, whose much-hyped autobiography will be released later this month, still the pinnacle of English literary fiction? Nine younger British novelists’ assess his work and influence, calling him everything from “the archetypal geeky white boy” to “uncompromisingly brilliant.” – The Independent (UK)
FIGHTING THROUGH THE CLUTTER
The early promise of e-publishing on the web was that anybody could get their work out there and find an audience. “In fact, the online publishing industry may be creating more obstacles than opportunities for aspiring writers. Within the next 18 months, the Web will add approximately 500,000 more titles. How can any author hope to break through those numbers?” – Wired
POET’S EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD
At age 81, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still feisty as ever. A recording company recently put out a recording of him reading his work – with musical accompaniment that makes him furious. “I find that music is a complete bring-down of the poems. They went ahead with complete disregard of my wishes in the matter.” – New Zealand Herald