Plenty of excellent publicity coming in for Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja’s Historic
Treble by Graham Hunter which
is published today by Back Page Press. You will remember that this title
is packed with remarkable eyewitness accounts and in-depth interviews with the
star names and key figures in this extraordinary team, and follows in the
critical and commercial success of Graham
Hunter’s 2012 title, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the
World, which sold 25,000 copies (paperback) in 12 months in the UK and was
Football Book of the Year at the 2013 British Sports Book Awards.
A whole series of extracts from Spain Scotland
And if you love your footie –then you’ll certainly
enjoy this highly entertaining "version" of Match of the
Day!
Oooh, those luvvies in the media have been going
billy bonkers for the National Theatre
Story by Daniel Rosenthal,
published by Oberon Books; there is simply masses of scrumptious
publicity for this fabulous title dahlings! This weekend there will be a big
lead review, with colour picture in the Sunday Times Culture section,
including a picture feature on the National's anniversary, with images of its
best productions. Then coming soon are reviews in the Spectator (Croall),
the Economist (Lucy Farmer), the Sunday Telegraph (Cavendish), the
Observer and The Stage. This definitive, authorized account takes
readers from the National Theatre’s 19th‐century origins, through false dawns in the early
1900s, onto its hard‐fought inauguration in 1963 at the Old Vic and on to
its concrete, South Bank home, whose three theatres have since 1976 hosted more
than 700 productions. It’s certain to be essential reading for theatre lovers
and students and is packed with photographs and more than 100 new interviews
with directors, playwrights and actors.
Of course one of the most interesting recent
innovations by the National Theatre is the cinema screenings of successful plays
– so that those who can’t get to London
Don’t forget about the massively successful Bluffer’s Guide series when you are planning your
Christmas window displays! Perfect as stocking fillers present for those hard to
buy for relations – new titles are being added to the range all the time and the
stylish covers mean they look great displayed as a set. You can see the full
collection on the bluffers.com website here.
And talking of Christmas window displays, if you’re
short of inspiration, then why not have a look here for some ideas! I think the trees made out of
books look terrific – although my personal favourite is the one made out of gold
cushions!
Look Up Glasgow by Adrian Searle and
David Barbour published by Freight is a stunning coffee table
book of Glasgow Scotland Glasgow Glasgow
Here’s a little heads-up for a terrific debut novel,
containing humour with a bite, published in January from Skyscraper
publications. Good for Nothing by
Brandon Graham is about a week when Flip
Mellis tries to rid himself of excess weight and solve the problems of his life.
This is a novel in which peaks of humour and troughs of tragedy intermingle as
the hero tries to get his life together, after a suicide attempt – like much
else in his life – fails to achieve its goal. Overweight, weak-willed, and quick
to criticise others, Flip has a self-fulfilling fatalism which leads him to
stumble through each day, hoping against hope that he can get a job, mend his
marriage and rebuild his life. Perceptively observed characters from American
small-town life populate the book in hilarious cameos and get in the way of
Flip’s well-meaning attempts to reform himself. Reading copies are available –
just email pat@compass-dsa.co.uk if you’d like one – and one of
our hawk-eared team heard none other than Andrew Marr mention that he was
thoroughly enjoying it a couple of weeks ago! He happened to say (during a
publication dinner for his own book!) that the book he was really loving at the
moment was Good for Nothing and thought
it was brilliant and a marvellously sustained comic voice! This could be the
beginning of another Compass word of mouth success story!
“There is nothing to be frightened of. It is all
magic.” Certainly some of the ideas
which previously belonged to the realms of fairytales and folklore – creating a
baby outside the womb for example – are now entirely possible, thanks to the
wonders of science. That link between contemporary scientific research and
ancient myth is explored to great effect in Moss
Witch by Sara Maitland; the
first collection of fiction from this internationally-acclaimed author in over
nine years which was published by Comma Press in September. Each of the stories in the book began as
collaboration with a scientist; and has grown out of a current piece of
research. Each story also comes with a specially written afterword, penned by
the scientist, and expanding upon the theory within the story – be it quantum
mechanics, planetary physics, game theory, or nanotechnology. Each enacts a
daring piece of alchemy, fusing together specific pieces of contemporary
scientific research with an ancient myth or a folkloric archetype. As the
laboratory smoke settles, we meet witches that can outwit botanists, religious
soothsayers that read evolutionary biology in feverish dreams, scientists that
fall in love with the birds they study….
A fascinating idea for a book – and the We Love This Book website gives it a rave review. You
can find out more and order Moss Witch here. And you can
see a little clip of Sara Maitland
talking about Moss Witch at the
Manchester Literary Festival here.
That’s all for now
folks, more next week!
This blog is read weekly by over 600 booksellers, publishers and publicists. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website or talk to your Compass Sales representative.
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