Who saw the
lovely documentary on Channel 4 this week about Virginia McKenna and
her animal conservation work? You can watch it here. McKenna has been campaigning for wildlife
causes ever since the 1966 release of the film Born Free in which she
and her husband depicted the story of conservationists George and Joy Adamson
and their reintroduction of Elsa the orphaned lion cub to the wild.
And let’s
remind ourselves here of the final moments of the original film – and its famous
soundtrack!
And
by ShuntarÅ Tanikawa from
New Selected Poems (pb,£12.99, 978 1784100681) published by Carcanet was the Guardian Poem of the Week which you can read here. The also piece featured much praise for Tanikawa, one of the most inventive modern
Japanese poets: “One poem can’t tell us nearly enough about this brilliant
and versatile writer.”
An interesting
article here in the Literary Hub about the effect of
prizes such as the Man Booker on the
fortunes of independent publishers – it features the many small British indie
presses whose books have recently made it to prestigious shortlists including
the fabulous And Other Stories.
Talking of And
Other Stories; there is a lovely online review for Trysting (pb, £8.99, 978 1908276766) by Emmanuelle Pagano (published
on 17 November) describing it as “a unique literary experience.” As
reviewer Melissa Beck writes: “Trysting is one of those rare books that
defy description it in any sort of a review. At its core, Pagano’s
book presents us with a series of writings in various lengths that deal
with the human experience of love … can be read like a collection of poetry,
slowly, a little bit at a time when one has quiet and the mood strikes.”
You can read the whole piece here. Emmanuelle
Pagano has won the EU Prize for Literature among many other
literary awards, and this title has already had dazzling reviews in Europe as
well as major enthusiasm from bloggers, eg: “Trysting is now my favourite
book I've read so far this year. It's a whole series of vignettes of people falling
in or out of love, and the little imperfections and idiosyncrasies that make up
intimacy.” There is a confirmed review for Trysting
coming in the Guardian shortly, and we are also expecting one in the Telegraph.
I love this story from the Huffington Post – a hairdresser in
the US who gives a discount to any child who will read aloud while their hair
is being cut! Brilliant!
Crosby,
Stills & Nash, the American-British folk rock supergroup made up of
David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash are famous for their intricate
vocal harmonies, often tumultuous interpersonal relationships, political
activism, and their lasting influence on US music and culture. Somewhat
surprisingly, there has never been a biography of Stephen
Stills – he is one of the last remaining music legends from the rock
era without one. All that is set to change with the publication next week of Stephen Stills: Change Partners: The Definitive Biography
2016 by David Roberts (hb, £20.00. 978 1911346005). During his six-decade
career, Stephen Stills has played with all the greats. His career
sky-rocketed when Crosby, Stills & Nash played only their second gig
together at Woodstock in 1969 and he is the only person to have been inducted
twice in one night into The Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame. Throughout 2016 Stephen
Stills has been on tour with his
new blues/rock trio The Rides; he has thousands of fans, and there will
definitely be a strong demand for this biog which is published by Red Planet.
Let’s have listen to one
of my favourites – Crosby, Stills & Nash playing Marrakesh Express live in 2000.
Which author
said “The man is as useless as nipples on a breastplate”? Very good,
you’re quite right it was indeed George R.R. Martin. Have a look here for a great list of some more of the most savage insults
in literature!
A couple of Biteback
titles are getting some terrific publicity at the moment. It’s been a
very good week for The New Philistines (pb, £10.00, 978 1785901270) with
the furore surrounding the ousting of Emma Rice at Shakespeare’s Globe
providing timely material for Sohrab Ahmari to link to his new title (which is published in the Provocations)
on Newsnight, and in pieces in The Spectator and Prospect magazine. Sohrab Ahmari's book is a passionate cri de coeur
against what he sees as our abandonment of the quest for
truth, freedom and the sacred in order to make to make room for identity
politics. He believes that contemporary art is obsessed with the politics of
identity and that if you visit any gallery, museum or theatre, the chances are
the art on offer will be principally concerned with race, gender, sexuality,
power and privilege. Commentary Magazine said: “Sohrab
Ahmari’s polemic against the contemporary art world is angry, witty,
uncompromising, and utterly unanswerable ... Tremendously entertaining and
thought-provoking” while The New Criterion called it “a spirited
examination of how identity politics has infiltrated and perverted art in
contemporary society. This book should be available at every art museum, art
gallery, and avant-garde performance space.”
Do keep an eye
out, too, for The Bad Boys of Brexit: Tales of
Mischief, Mayhem & Guerrilla Warfare in the EU Referendum Campaign by Arron Banks (hb, £18.99, 978 1785901829). There has already been
an excellent piece about it on The Spectator Blog and it is being serialised in this
weekend’s Daily Mail.
Anakana
Schofield will be on Radio 4’s Woman's Hour
on 7 November, talking to Jane Garvey about her novel Martin John. There’s lots more good publicity to
come for this brilliant exploration of a man's long slide into deviancy: since
its shortlisting for the Goldsmiths Prize (announced 9 November); Martin John has
been confirmed as the Irish Times Book Club choice
for November. This involves a live event (taking place on 2 November in
Dublin), a popular podcast, and a whole month of coverage on the Irish Times
website with confirmed contributions from Booker Prize judge Jon Day, novelist
Megan Bradbury, booksellers from Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, a forensic
psychiatrist, and much more! Additionally, Anakana
Schofield will be interviewed for the
New Statesman, as well as appearing on The Guardian Books Podcast
and Monocle24 Radio. Martin John (pb, 978 1908276667, £10.00) is published by And
Other Stories.
And to finish
with – there are some bestselling seasonal titles which may not be new – but
which certainly deserve a place in every bookshop. Such a book is Christmas Poems by U A Fanthorpe. These witty, quirky and
thought-provoking poems cover a broad range of seasonal characters, from angels
to personified Christmas trees, and a variety of styles to match, from moments
of beautiful lyricism to the comically touching Gloucestershire foxes begging
baby Jesus to visit: “Come live wi we under Westridge / Where the huntin
folk be few”. Fanthorpe is witty and
highly original, rethinking the Christmas story from quirky angles, to create
her own alternative Christmas legend from the cat and the sheep-dog left out of
the stable, to the wicked fairy's gifts for Jesus. Above all, these poems are
celebrations of Christmas joy and love.
Compass is on Twitter! Follow us @CompassIPS. Our tweets from
this week are taken from the hilarious #TrumpBookReport: If Donald Trump
Explained Literary Classics…
Sam
Tett @SamTett The problem
with Narnia - which is a disaster by the way - is OPEN BORDERS. Just letting
people POUR in through the wardrobe.
Simon
Spanton @SimonGuy64 No one has more
respect for this white whale than me. Believe me.
Olle
Svalander @OlleSvalander The man was
old. Very old. No stamina. And the sea. The sea is huge.
Beth
Pandolpho @bethpando You don't
understand a person until you see things from his point of view. Wrong,
Atticus. I have the best point of view.
Dave
Harned @davi3blu3 I'm calling for
a total shutdown of Wild Things entering the US until our people can figure out
Where the Wild Things Are.
Andrew
Craft @acraft Would it be
such a bad idea if we got along with Voldemort? He's tough. So tough, really.
And he's been very good to me.
P
to the Such @PeterSucher The Wind? Gone!
A total disaster. Scarlett O'Hara: a 5 at best. And that war? I was against it
from the beginning.
David
Futrelle @DavidFutrelle I just start
catching them. I just catch, I don't wait. And when you're a star, they let you
do it. Grab them in the rye
Simon
Bentley @Bentley_si There's this
cat, wearing a hat. Breaks into a house. Terrible! Terrible things happen. Ask
anyone. The worst. Probably ISIS.
NastyJill
Weinberger @jillybobww I tell you: if
I had written this book, there'd've been way more than two cities. I'd've had
four, five cities at least.
Kaavya
Ramesh @KaavyaMRamesh Achilles. What
a failure. Weak heels. Only I can take Troy. And I do not have weak heels. My
heels are so good. Believe me.
Missy
Kurzweil @missykurz The Hunger
Games are rigged, folks. Everyone knows Katniss won because she played the
woman card. Nasty woman. Very rigged.
Morgan
Cikowski @Morgans Winnie the
Pooh...don't get me started. Low energy. Lazy. Overweight and no stamina.
Always eating. He should be drug tested.
Jennifer
Ray @JRay_NYC Dr. Seuss? Big
liar. Very very big liar. Green eggs? Wrong. Cats in hats? Never happened.
Medical school? I don't think so.
That’s all for now folks! More next week!
This
blog is taken from an e-newsletter which is sent weekly to over 700 booksellers as well as publishers and
publicists. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please
talk to your Compass Sales Manager, or call the office on 020 8326 5696.
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