Last week we talked about
the sad death of Clive James, and of course on the same day, theatre and opera
director, television presenter, comedian, writer, and neurologist Jonathan Miller also
passed away. Oberon publish two great books on him, a biography and a
selected writings collection.
One Thing and Another:
Selected Writings 1954-2016 (£20.00,
pb, 9781783197453) is a fully-authorized comprehensive collection of Miller’s
best-known writing. It contains previously lost and undiscovered material, with
extensive meditations on the arts, philosophy, medicine, technology, opera,
Shakespeare and the philosophy of science and contains interviews with Richard
Dawkins, Arthur Miller, Dick Cavett and Susan Sontag. In
keeping with Miller’s grasshopper mind, One Thing
and Another leaps from discussions of
human behaviour, atheism, satire, cinema and television, to analysis of the
work of M. R. James, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens and Truman Capote, by way
of reflections on directing Shakespeare, Chekhov, Olivier and opera.
In Two Minds
by Kate Bassett (£12.99,
pb, 9781783190898) is a bestselling biography which was critically-acclaimed, received
blanket review coverage and was shortlisted for the Theatre
Book Prize, the Sheridan Morley Prize
for Theatre Biography and the HW Fisher Prize for Best First Biography. The Telegraph
called it ‘a remarkable portrait of a complex and Coleridgean figure’ Descended
from immigrants who fled Tsarist anti‐Semitism to become shopkeepers in Ireland
and London’s East End, Miller was born into an intellectual milieu, between
Bloomsbury and Harley Street – the son of a novelist and a leading child
psychiatrist. Miller trained as a doctor but then forged a career as a stellar
comedian and as a world‐renowned theatre and opera director. He was without
doubt one of post‐war Britain’s most intriguing polymaths.
Really great to see that Lorenz
have FOUR winners in the just-announced and very prestigious Gourmand International Cookbook Awards 2020. All
have been chosen as best in UK in their categories which means they are all now
shortlisted for the best in the world which will be judged next June! My Bangladesh Kitchen by
Saira Hamilton (£20,
hb, 978 0754834502) won Best Asian Cookbook,
Fermentation by Asa Simonsson (£15,
hb, 978 0754834649) won Best Fermentation
Cookbook, Ramen by Heather Whinney (978
0754834366) won Best Japanese Cookbook and The Perfect
Afternoon Tea Recipe Book by Antony Wild and Carol Pastor (£15, hb, 978 0754834519) won Best Pastry and Desserts Cookbook. You can see all
the details here.
Duncan Hamilton has won the 31st William Hill Sports Book of the Year, making
him the only author in the award’s history to have won three times. The
Great Romantic: Cricket and the Golden Age of Neville Cardus is published
by Hodder & Stoughton, but this is undoubtably a good opportunity to promote
the ideal companion volume of Cardus's
writings on cricket; Safe Haven's A Field of
Tents and Waving Colours (£14.99, hb,
978 1916045309) This is the perfect Christmas present for any for every lover
of fine writing on cricket and this handsome volume includes Cardus on Don
Bradman, Denis Compton and Richie Benaud, as well as new talents like Garry
Sobers and Clive Lloyd, at the arcadian cricket festival at Dover beneath
Shakespeare Cliff, seeing the Australians defeated at Eastbourne, and of course
at the home of cricket, Lord's. In The Great Romantic, Duncan Hamilton
demonstrates how Cardus changed sports journalism for ever and in A Field of Tents and Waving Colours, readers can
see how! As the Guardian said, it ‘nicely complements’ the
biography.
Mark Hodkinson,
publisher at Pomona and author of That Summer
Feeling, ponders the nature of our personal book collections, why
and how we gather books, what it says about us, and how we ever expect to find
time to read them all, on a super little documentary on Radio 4 on
Thursday last week which you can listen to here. I would highly recommend it – there’s
been lots discussions about it on Twitter etc. That
Summer Feeling, which one reviewer described as ‘an absolute
belter of a book’ will appeal to fans of Nick Hornby or Tony Parsons
(although, as the reviewer says, it’s much better!) Mark’s radio programme, So
Many Books, So Little Time, is repeated on Saturday 28 December at 2pm.
The River of Angry Dogs (£16.99, pb, 978 0745340296) by Mira Hamermesh, has been adapted for a Radio 4
dramatization that will be broadcast next week. This is, as Elaine Feinstein
said 'the story of a teenager crossing Hitler's Europe with only her own
courage and luck to sustain her. ... Stunning.' It has just been published by
Pluto in paperback and I think there will be a lot of interest following
the Radio 4 drama – so do order it! Mira
Hamermesh is an award-winning film
maker, painter and writer, and the theme of political conflict, so often
explored in her films, is brought to life here in an intimate account that will
live long in the memory. As a young Jewish teenager she escaped the horrors of
German occupied Poland and was spared the experience of the ghetto and the concentration
camp that claimed most of her family. The journey led her across Europe and
eventually to Palestine in 1941; her account of that region, before the
establishment of Israel, provides a fascinating insight into the historical
setting for today's conflict. Having settled in London where she studied art
and married, she then won a place at the celebrated Polish Film School in Lodz.
At the height of the Cold War Mira Hamermesh commuted across the Iron Curtain
and her experience of a divided Europe offers many insights into the political
factors that affected people's everyday lives. The 45-minute play, will be broadcast
on Monday 9 December at 2:15pm and will remain available on BBC Sounds
for 30 days after the broadcast.
An interesting article here
where the editor of The Book of Sheffield (pb, £9.99, 978-1912697137) Catherine Taylor, spoke to the website in Minor Literatures
about her influences, putting together the collection and the vibrant literary
scene in the city. The Book of Sheffield
is part of Comma’s popular Reading the City series and from the
aspirations of young creatives, ultimately driven to leave, to the more
immediate demands of refugees, scrap metal collectors, and student radicals,
these stories offer ten different look-out points from which to gaze down on
the ever-changing face of the 'Steel City'.
‘No Regrets’ was the name given to
Welsh rugby's three-year masterplan to give the national team the best possible
chance of success at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. In No Regrets:
Welsh Rugby's Plan to Conquer the World (£13.99, pb, 978 1902719818) acclaimed rugby correspondent Matthew
Southcombe reveals how the masterplan
led to the 2017 tour success in Argentina, a clean sweep in the 2018 autumn
internationals and, in 2019, a Six Nations Grand Slam, a record 14-game
unbeaten run and a World Rugby #1 ranking. Hopes were high, amongst the squad
and the nation, as the team headed to Japan with a genuine expectation winning
the tournament. Essential reading for all Welsh rugby supporters, Southcombe also
recalls the highs and lows of Wales at the previous eight World Cups and asks
what is required for this rugby-obsessed nation to reach the World Cup final,
and finally lift the Webb Ellis Trophy. It’s published on 20 December by St
David’s Press.
Great to see Comma’s Europa 20: Women on the Future of Europe (£12.99, pb, 978-1912697298) was previewed in today’s
Bookseller under Literary Short Stories for March. With so many
flare-ups of nationalism and isolationism in recent years, there is a sense
that Europe needs to be fixed, or, at the very least, profoundly reconfigured;
whether it is to address the grievances of those feeling disenfranchised from
it, or to improve social cohesion. Bringing together 28 acclaimed women writers,
artists, scientists and entrepreneurs from across Europe, this powerful and
timely anthology looks at an ever-changing Europe from a variety of different
perspectives and offers hope and insight into how we might begin to rebuild.
Lots of Carcanet titles have
featured on the Books of the Year lists we’re pleased to see! The Telegraph
included In Nearby Bushes by Kei Miller, Significant Other by Isabel Galleymore and Skin Can Hold by Vahni Capildeo that’s here,
and
Significant Other
was also on their list of the best new poetry books to buy for Christmas,
that’s here.
Fifty Fifty, edited by Robyn
Marsack was chosen as the best of 2019
poetry in the Morning Star that’s here and the Times Literary Supplement
included Blazons by Marilyn Hacker, Douglas
Crase’s The Revisionist and The Astropastorals: Collected
Poems in their Books of the Year,
that’s here.
And
finally, the Sunday Times chose Mimi Khalvati’s
Afterwardness and that’s here.
As the festive food and drink begin to
take their toll on the nation, don’t forget to display plenty of copies of Liver Rescue (£26,
hb, 978 1401954406). It’s been a big bestseller this year for Hay House
and in it Anthony William, the Medical
Medium, shares unparalleled insights into undiscovered functions of our
life-saving livers. Learn how to sleep well, balance blood sugar, lower blood
pressure, lose weight, and look and feel younger. A healthy liver is the
ultimate de-stressor, anti-aging ally, and safeguard against a threatening
world, if we give it the right support.
Overdrawn
(£8.99, pb, 978 1789550221) has been featured in WI Life magazine (220k
circulation) where it is listed as the Best Contemporary Fiction novel in their
Christmas Edition Book Gift Guide calling it ‘a powerful and tender book,
with even more emotional punch than Crosskey’s debut.' This is a gripping
and highly topical novel, inspired by the rise of racism and nationalism, which
will appeal to all fans of dystopian fiction and political thrillers. The Daily
Mail said 'This compelling page-turner is so disturbingly real; I can't
stop thinking about it.'
Following Clive
James’s death last week, there there’s been huge media interest in
his work, especially in his poetry, so do make sure you keep So Brightly at the Last (£18.99, hb, 978
1913062071) which Clive read and called ‘energetic, informal and beautifully
written’, on the tables with his last book, Somewhere Becoming Rain, his
recent volumes of poetry (Sentenced to Life and Injury Time) and
his perennial bestsellers, such as Unreliable Memoirs and Cultural
Amnesia. There has been tremendous press and broadcast coverage and a vast
amount of praise and discussion about Clive and his poetry on social media and
there will be more to come. The BBC News Channel interviewed Ian Shircore on 27
November as did Iain Dale on LBC. Reviews and/or coverage for the book
are now confirmed in the Times, the New Statesman, the Spectator
and Prospect and there will be more to come.
Known as The
Singing Winger (hb, £20, 9781909245952)
for his ability both out wide on a football field and centre stage at a concert
hall, Colin Grainger had the privilege of sharing a changing room with
Duncan Edwards and Stanley Matthews and a bill with The Beatles. Starting out
in 1950, Grainger’s professional football career spanned sixteen years, taking
in all four divisions, and after Nat Lofthouse persuaded him to perform while
on England duty, a successful singing career was born. Grainger continued to marry his passions in the
years to come, and this tale tells the story of life on the road as a
professional in two industries and the joy of forging friendships with icons of
a bygone era. This book is perfect Christmas present material for dads and grandpas
methinks, and it was reviewed on Football Reviews.com last week who said
it was ‘an intriguing look at a unique career that simply wouldn’t be
possible in the modern era.’ You can read that here.
It’s
new from De Coubertin.
The next #Carcanet50 symposium
and evening reading is on Saturday 25th January at the National Centre for Writing
in Norwich. There’s lots more information about it on Facebook here and tickets are available from the
National Centre for Writing’s website – for the full day here and just the evening here. The day promises to be a fantastic
occasion, with presentations, discussions and poetry readings, designed to
explore the relationship between publisher and poet over the years, the
development of an indie poetry press that has survived half a century, and the
state of indie poetry publishing today. Speakers include Caroline Bird, Mimi
Khalvati, Peter Scupham, Neil Astley, Jane Commane and Anthony Anaxagorou. Poets
include: Laura Scott, Mimi Khalvati, Caroline Bird, Alison Brackenbury, Philip
Terry, Rory Waterman, Peter Scupham, Sasha Dugdale, Julia Blackburn, Sophie
Hannah and Miles Burrows. This is an essential day of events for anyone
interested in poetry and publishing.
Twenty Years of TalkSPORT (pb, £12,99, 978 0956328410) is selling
at the speed of Mbappé – if you haven’t got it front of store then you’re
missing out! Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the launch of the UK's
favourite sports radio station, it gives us an amazing behind the scenes, warts
and all, look at the station and its presenters capturing the funniest stories
from the early days right through the World Cups and European Championships to
its move into plush new studios in 2019. It is a hilarious and highly
entertaining read.
And in this week’s Hot Topics, here's YouTube’s five minute take on what we
watched most in 2019, here's the trailer for No Time To Die,
and the here's the brand new Taylor Swift Christmas single!
That’s all folks, more next week!
This weekly blog is written for the UK
book trade. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please
talk to your Compass Sales Manager, or call the Compass office on 020 8326
5696. Every Friday an e-newsletter containing highlights from the blog is sent
out to over 700 booksellers and if you’d like to receive this then please
contact nuala@compassips.london
