Blurbing has always had discontents. In 1936, George Orwell decried the use of blurbs in his essay “In Defense of the Novel.” He feared for the novel’s “lapse in prestige,” for which he partly blamed “hack reviews” and “the disgusting tripe that is written by the blurb-reviewers." - The Millions
Late in her life, virtually everything Hildegard had written was copied into a 33-pound illuminated manuscript — too heavy for Soviet soldiers to loot from a Dresden bank vault after World War II. But how to get it out of East Germany and back to the nuns at Hildegard's abbey? - Literary Hub
This re-engagement with Black authors of the past is being led by a fresh cohort of literary tastemakers: younger authors in search of ancestors; publishers eager to excavate Black literature, film and television executives in search of intellectual property; social media influencers on Bookstagram... - The New York Times
One author "said while he believes using sensitivity readers to rewrite classical literature like Dahl is problematic, employing them to work on in-progress manuscripts can be an important aspect of the writing process." - CBC
"The project impacted encompasses three 22-story office towers and 'The Helix,' a dystopian 'corporate conference center' and excellent place to die. So far, developers have only gotten as far as digging a parking garage." - LitHub
British writer Hanif Kureishi told Prospect Magazine that “nobody would have the balls today to write The Satanic Verses.” He might have added that no one would have the balls to defend it. Most writers, Kureishi continued, live quietly, and “they don’t want a bomb in the letterbox.” - Harper's
Partly because I am this strange thing called a linguist and partly because I am the kind of linguist who wants to know a little of every language on Earth, I have curled up with this book with a glass of wine countless times over the past couple of months just to savor the cornucopia that this dictionary is....
Despite the indignation of the critics and the high-mindedness of the revisers, the truth is that most of the edits to the Dahl books are of very little importance. Many are slight (replacing “old hag” with “old crow”) or inscrutable... - The New York Times
"These changes ... are handed down in communiqués written by obscure 'experts' who purport to speak for vaguely-defined 'communities,' remaining unanswerable to a public that's being morally coerced. ... The liturgy changes without public discussion, and with a suddenness and frequency that keep the novitiate off-balance, forever trying to catch up." - MSN (The Atlantic)
Did it start out as a few modest tweaks but got out of hand? In any case, there’s a loss in these changes—in vivacity, vigor, concreteness. As any good writer can tell you, we all know what a screechy voice sounds like, but an annoying one could be anything.
"Encyclopedias are not like rose bushes, for which pruning is everything. They are usually the opposite, more like Japanese knotweed, spreading wildly and germinating freely, invasive and persistent in all countries where a foothold is possible." - Literary Hub
I continue to struggle with an imaginative leap into a world that is entirely not my own. I can’t quite seem to achieve the trick of perception, the sinking-in that allows you to half-forget the conscious act of reading. But I’m strangely unmotivated, too, for reasons I can’t fully unravel. - New Statesman
"He empowers booksellers at each location to curate books based on their own quirky, idiosyncratic tastes. It's a strategy that leads to more engaged workers and more interesting stores, (CEO James) Daunt says. And importantly, it's one that Amazon has been unable to replicate." - Fast Company
Encyclopedias have always been a hard sell. Moving a hefty set of books at a big ticket price—toward its last days Britannica sold for $1,500—it could scarcely have been otherwise. - The Wall Street Journal
