Renowned and prolific mystery writer P.D. James has done what very few authors would dare to do in a serious way: tread on the territory of her fellow British, and much beloved, author Jane Austen. Not since Anne Telscombe's almost universally declaimed attempt to finish Austen's last novel, Sanditon, has an author dared to mess…
Read More "A Murder at Pemberley? P.D. James and her Austenite Mystery"
Christmas is a time when we all want to express just the right words about how much we love one another, to celebrate the year that was, and to anticipate and hope for the future. Here are ten sentiments by writers who may reflect what you are feeling during this holiday season. 1. In the…
There are some things we will just never know: why do we have so many unmatched socks, and what do all those keys we carry around actually unlock? But bigger than all of these mysteries is one of the ultimate ones...the loss to humanity of some possibly important works of literature. This week, Megan Gambino,…
For me, books are like crack. I will seriously consider buying less food if there is a new title out that I want to read. And having a Kindle makes it all too easy to have instant gratification. At first I thought I was safe. After all, Kindle allows you to "sample" any book you…
Penguin Books "Modern Classics" line is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. To honor that landmark, the press is offering fifty titles in "mini" form. Each text measures a mere six inches by four inches. You can purchase each one individually or buy the entire box set. The works offered range "from Beckett to Saki,…
Read More "Small Spaces, Powerful Words: Penguin Books’ “Making the Mini Modern Classics”"
Last October, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize for his writing about the political power struggles of Latin America. In an article following the award, The New York Times called Vargas Llosa an "anti-totalitarian intellectual whose work covers the range of human experience, whether it is ideology or eros." This week,…
"Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which…
This week, the English auction house Sotheby's sold the earliest known work of novelist Jane Austen for a stunning $1.6 million dollars (£993,250 after taxes). The work fetched three times more than what Sotheby's had anticipated. The manuscript is titled The Watsons. The sixty-eight pages are written in Austen's minuscule hand and it clearly shows…
Read More "First Known Jane Austen Manuscript Sells for $1.6 Million"
