Well, I think
we can agree that the publicity story of the week has been the Tory leadership
race, and in particular what Michael Gove has up his nostrils. Michael Gove: Man in A Hurry (978 1785904400, £20, hb) by journalist of the moment
Owen Bennett has
had widespread review coverage in all the national papers and is published on
18 July by Biteback. From an Edinburgh orphanage to standing for the
leadership of the Conservatives, his story could have come straight from the
pages of a Charles Dickens novel. A charming man to his friends, and a
cold-blooded zealot to his enemies, Gove is set to play a crucial role in the
future of the UK. It’s all been serialised in the Daily Mail; here's
the first part of this explosive biography, the second episode is here
– that’s the “heart-warming tale
of how he rose from the very humblest of origins”, and here
is the “five in a bed romp” which is worth clicking on just for the
hilarious pictures of the young Gove I’d say! Owen has been interviewed this
week on Daily Politics, Good Morning Britain, Newsnight, Sky and LBC
and the book has been featured pretty much everywhere!
On the subject
of books about repellent politicians, here's
a thought-provoking piece in the Bookseller entitled “Why we must
publish books we hate.” It asks whether we should “be willing to assist
in the promotion of the sort of people and policies we abhor? Political books
have exploded because politics has morphed into entertainment.” It points
out that “the players all want to write books. Even Donald Trump, who has
almost certainly never read a complete book in his adult life, understands that
being a published author can lead to real power and real change. If Trump
hadn’t put his name to The Art of the Deal, he would probably not have been
chosen to front the US version of The Apprentice, a show which convinced
enough people to vote him President.” So, should a publisher refuse to publish
a manuscript on the grounds that it might result in an unwanted success for the
author? Should a ghostwriter turn down a client because they might one day turn
out to be a ruthless dictator? Interesting stuff!
Widespread
coverage for Gerald Murnane continues, which hasn't let up since the UK
publication of Border Districts (978 1911508380, £8.99, pb) and Tamarisk Row (978
1911508366, £10.99, pb) were published by And Other Stories in January
and February this year. Last Sunday, Murnane's work was featured on BBC
Radio 4's Open Book, with initially sceptical host Mariella Frostrup
declaring herself “seduced” by Munane's writing, also described during
the programme as “addictive” and “exciting and gripping.”
There really
has been some superb coverage for these two titles over the last six months, so
if you haven’t discovered Gerald Murnane for your bookshop yet – you’re really missing out!
The Sunday Times said “Border Districts excavates a fascinating
subject: the experience of encountering fiction, and what our minds
unconsciously conjure for us as we read.”, the New Statesman said “Murnane’s
books are expeditions that encompass a territory unlike any other”, the Guardian
called them “strange and luminous” and the Spectator wrote “Tamarisk Row is a
remarkably acute portrayal of what it is to be a bullied, confused boy,
while Border Districts is dazzling for its austerity, its cruel purity.
Their sentences ring in the ear, and the novels stay with you.” with the Irish
Times saying “his books are so good and so important. They are strange,
unique and uncategorisable.”
Many
congratulations to Glen James Brown and Ironopolis (£9.99,
pb, 978 1912681099) which has made the shortlist for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. The Orwell Prizes are
the UK’s most prestigious prizes for political writing an every year, the
Foundation awards prizes for the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s
ambition “to make political writing into an art”; you can see the
shortlists in full here.
Published by Parthian, this
is, as Northern Soul wrote, “an unflinching tale about narratives at
the heart of working-class communities and the struggle to keep them alive.”
The Morning Star called it “the most accomplished working-class novel
of the last few years” and the Bookseller, an “edgy and arresting
debut.”
E.
Sylvia Pankhurst: A Suffragette in America Reflections on Prisoners, Pickets
and Political Change (£16.99, pb,
978 0745339368) is an important and fascinating collection of Sylvia
Pankhurst's writing on her visits to America in 1911. Unlike the standard
suffragette tours which focused on courting progressive members of America's
social elite for money, Pankhurst got her hands dirty, meeting striking laundry
workers in New York, visiting female prisoners in Philadelphia and Chicago and
grappling with horrific racism in Nashville, Tennessee. These
never-before-published writings mark a significant stage in the development of
the suffragette's thought, and bringing her own experiences of imprisonment and
misogyny from her political work in Britain; she found many parallels between
the two countries. There’s an interesting interview with its editor Katherine Connelly in the Morning Star here
and a review in Counterfire here.
It’s just been published by Pluto.
Industry
insiders have reacted angrily to analysis from the Guardian (that’s here)
covering the “highly concerning” story that the top 100 illustrated
children’s books published last year showed a growing marginalisation of female
and minority ethnic characters. However, the analysis did not take into
account 66% of the picture book market, by only focusing on the top 100 books,
and did not look at the number of titles that do not feature any human
characters. You can read more on this in the Bookseller here.
Sometimes
poetry can shine new light on difficult subjects, and in the light of all the
discussion over the UK’s attempt to become carbon neutral by 2050, it is rewarding
to read Isabel Galleymore’s debut collection
of poems Significant Other (£9.99, pb, 978 1784107116) which explore ecology,
extinction and climate change. These are, as poet Jessica Traynor wrote, “jewel-like
poems which approach the natural through the eyes of a miniaturist”, and
Isabel’s influences are poets such as Jen Hadfield, Jorie Graham and Les Murray.
She has just been shortlisted for the prestigious
Gladstone's Library Residency next year, and is also currently
shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. You can find out
more on the Carcanet website here.
I am loving this
terrific till-side display at Foyles for Pluto’s 50th Birthday!
Remember, Bertrams are offering special terms throughout June on Pluto
titles, and there is POS material available on request to support in store
promotions – see your Compass rep for details! If you want to find out more
about fifty years of independent radical publishing, the Pluto website is very informative!
If you and
your customers are fed up with the crap UK weather, then you’re probably
planning a summer getaway to warmer climes – and where better than Italy! This
week the Mail Online featured twenty gorgeous images from Amber’s
new Visual Explorer Guide: Italy (£9.99,
pb, 978 1782748700 ) by Claudia Martin which is a stunning collection of pictures ranging
from the natural beauty of lakes to the vineyards in Tuscany to the glory of
Venice's canals and palaces, the magnificence of classical antiquity in Rome, the
Arab-Norman architecture of Palermo and Renaissance Florence. And as well as
the famous highlights, the book also features lesser known unexplored sides to
the country, be it the abandoned cave towns of Puglia and the 16th century
star-shaped town of Palmanova; there’s plenty of information about each
gorgeous photograph too. You can
salivate over them here.
Great to see Jane Yeh’s Discipline
(£9.99, pb, 978 1784107079) featured in the Guardian’s Best Books of
2019 So Far, that’s here.
They said “Yeh can evoke a feeling or concept with alarming exactitude,
and, like the paintings of Kirsten Glass that inspire the title poem, she shows
that the elegant and the macabre are never far apart.”
Quite a lot of
nice publicity for The Perfect Afternoon Tea (£15, hb, 978 0754834519) – it’s heavily featured in the latest issue of
Baking Heaven and also in The
Lady. This delightful recipe book presents 200 delicious dishes to serve
for afternoon tea, together with a brief history of afternoon tea traditions, a
guide to specialty teas of the world and of course information on how to
choose, blend and make the perfect cuppa. It is sumptuously illustrated
throughout – and there really are some mouth-watering recipes! This edition is
new from Lorenz.
Nice to finish
with some music, so let’s have a little bit of
Jack Buchanan from 1935; Everything Stops for Tea!
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@compass-ips.london
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