Compass Points
17
Your weekly round up
of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!
Well, it’s the time of year for party conferences –
and we’ve now heard from Labour and the Lib Dems as to how exactly they’d run
the country – if only they were in charge. Out this month is the gripping first
biography of one of the men who actually is in charge – George Osborne.
The Age of Osborne by Janan Ganash charts the mixture of rare
brilliance, deadly opportunism and extraordinary good fortune that propelled
Osborne’s vertiginous ascent through British politics, from journalist fresh out
of university to the youngest Chancellor in over a century. In doing so, it
paints a portrait of that rare thing in the coalition government: a compelling
character. A lifelong Tory but a man of few fixed convictions, the author of the
most dramatic austerity programme this country has seen since the war, the most
aristocratic member of an unusually privileged government and a ferociously
ambitious moderniser with aspirations for the premiership, George Osborne is
perhaps the most modern and metropolitan figure in British public life. Janan Ganesh is the British political
correspondent of The Economist, and this title is attracting much media
attention, as you would expect. Starting this Saturday it will be
serialised in the Daily Mail – which will run through into next
week.
Another title in the news is Ted and I: A Brother’s Memoir by Gerald Hughes – his story of growing up with the
poet Ted Hughes. This had a two page
serialisation this weekend in the Sunday Times. Anecdotal and immensely
charming, this book is a unique portrait of one of the finest and best-known
poets of the twentieth century. Hughes brings alive a period when the two
brothers would roam the countryside, camping, making fires, pitching tents,
hunting rabbits, rats, wood pigeon and stoats. Ted’s fascination with all
wildlife subsequently fed directly into his sublime poetry and Gerald
subsequently describes how he watched his brother become one of the greatest
poets in English literary history, and his relationships with others, in
particular. The title containing a great many unique and never-before-seen
photographs of Ted Hughes, and has a foreword by Frieda Hughes, daughter of
Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. I have always loved Ted Hughes, and was lucky
enough to see him reading his poems at a festival years ago – if you too are a
fan you can watch a short
tribute to him here.
Now – something very exciting is happening on Monday
– 46 million people all over the world will watch the largest ever global
photographic show! A Day in the World will be simultaneously shown
across 85,733 major digital display screens in 22 countries; including in
New York ’s Times
Square . The synchronised
exhibition will kick off on the farthest eastern screen in Sydney , Australia , and travel across the world until it
reaches the most western in Charlotte , North
Carolina
On 15th May 2012, ADay.org asked amateur and
professional photographers around the world to pick up their cameras to
photograph what was close to them on a single day. The response proved
phenomenal and the initiative became the most comprehensive documentation of a
single day in human history through digital photography. Of over 100,000
photographs taken and submitted, from 165 countries, the 1,000 best have been
selected for this book. A Day in the
World highlights the sharp juxtapositions between different
geographical regions and economic positions – and includes a great variety of
situations and subject matter. As Desmond Tutu says in the book’s introduction
“Every picture has added to my experience – my comprehension of life is
suddenly richer.”
This is fun – one of the Compass publishers has
their own radio station! Hay House –the
world’s leading mind body and sprit publisher – as well as having a great
website, also has its very own radio station, where you can listen to words of
wisdom from some of their bestselling authors. If you’re bored of Classic
FM, Radio 5 Live or 6Music then why not have a listen to it
here.
Who fancies escaping the wild weather of a typical
British autumn, and jetting off to the isle of Mustique for a decadent party
with the rich and famous? Sadly most of
us don’t have this option – but it’s always fun to read about those who do.
Lord of the Isle: The Extravagant Life and Times of
Colin Tennant (Lord Glenconner) by
Nicholas Courtney is the long anticipated biography of the late Lord
Glenconner – an often unconventional and always newsworthy figure. Born to an
immensely rich Victorian industrial family, he used his wealth to live an
eccentric lifestyle of self-indulgence from the 1940s to his death in 2010. He
bought the private island of
Mustique in the West Indies and made it one of the world’s most exclusive
destinations for the famous – royalty, film and pop stars, international
businessmen and the jet-set flocked there. His parties were legend. The inside
story of this remarkable and often tragic life continues to cause ripples even
after his death – not least because, to his family’s surprise, he left his
estate to his manservant. This book is a major biography for the autumn and
Christmas and will generate a lot of publicity. A serialisation is running in
the Daily Mail to run in three instalments between 13th October and the
date of publication, Monday 29th October. There will also be big pieces in the
Sunday Telegraph and The Scotsman and we’re expecting interviews
with Nicholas on the BBC World Service, BBC Scotland and BBC
Radio 4.
New in this week’s “oooh er missus” spot comes
Venus in the Cloister by the rather
unfortunately named L’Abbe du Prat. Fifty Shades of Grey may have created a
phenomenon but is a relative newcomer to the world of fictional eroticism – why
not go back to the beginning to see how it all began. Written in 1683 as a
series of dialogues (known as whore dialogues) between the two nuns, Venus in the Cloister shows erotic fiction was
popular long before the days of EL James and could be just as titillating. In
fact it was considered so shocking at the time in its portrayal of sexual
voyeurism and notion of female intimacy; it was responsible for the first trial
for obscenity in the United
Kingdom
Who’s into rugby union? Well, then this is the book
for you! Behind the Lions:
Playing Rugby
for the British & Irish Lions
by Stephen Jones, Tom English, Nick Cain and David
Barnes is a unique history of the Lions told in the players’ own
words. These four world-renowned rugby authors represent each of the Home Unions
– and 2013 marks 125 years of Lions tours so there’s certain to be plenty of
interest in this book! Just to give you a flavour of emotions involved, here’s one fan's tribute to
the 2009 Lions tour! The Lions tours embody a revered legacy that is steeped
in tradition yet maintains a vibrant standing in the modern era. Every four
years the rugby world’s focus is drawn to a great red pilgrimage as the Lions
embark on a brutal and exhilarating tour that challenges the very limits of
their rugby ability and the strengths of their characters. They travel to the
far reaches of the earth to confront the great powers in the world game… and the
weight of history itself. Behind the Lions delves to the heart of what it means to be a Lion,
interviewing a vast array of former tourists to uncover the passion, pride and
exhilaration experienced when wearing the famous red jersey. It is a tale of
heart-break and ecstasy, humour and poignancy that is at once inspirational,
moving and utterly compelling.
This newsletter is sent weekly to over 550
booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the
Compass New Titles Website.
That’s all for now
folks, more next week!
A Day In The World is fabulous!
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