Monday, January 31, 2011
TPL's Materials Review Committee Report
The Toronto Public Library has released its Materials Review Committee 2010 report, which lists all of the items that were officially challenged (including Sacha Baron Cohen's film Bruno and children's picture book The Waiting Dog by Carolyn and Andrea Beck), gives the reasons for the challenges and the outcomes of said challenges. Interesting stuff.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Toronto's literary history gets a worthy survey
by: Derek Flack
Amy Lavender Harris has filled a longstanding gap in Toronto's literary scholarship with the publication of Imagining Toronto, a comprehensive overview of literature devoted to and set in this city. Although clearly rooted in academic research - Harris teaches in the Geography department at York University - this book is nevertheless a mostly accessible read that's as much a narrative of Toronto via its various fictions as it is an analysis of the dominant tropes and themes that underwrite local literary tradition.
That's probably a bit of a straw man opposition - good analysis is always already narrative - but it might prove a useful distinction for those considering whether or not to buy the book. Perhaps the greatest strength of Harris's text, and the reason why I would suggest it's well enough suited to a general audience, is the generosity with which the author uses direct quotations from her subject matter to document Toronto's literary lineage. I wouldn't normally highlight something like this for praise, but in this case it helps Harris to tell her particular story of Toronto in the least didactic manner possible. It also doesn't hurt that her selections are, for the most part, wonderfully curated.
Broadly speaking, Imagining Toronto makes the argument "that the cities we live in are made not merely of brick and mortar, or bureaucracy and money, but are equally the invention of our memories and imaginations." And in a city like Toronto, where so much of that which was built with bricks and mortar has been erased over the years, this theory is particularly seductive. How else can we access our history but via its construction in literature? For all the wonder of archival photographs, they remain somewhat hollow in the absence of context.
Given Harris's background, it's not surprising that some of the best moments in her book are descriptions of the city, be they of its geography, streetscape, built environment or residents. More often than not these come via the writers whose work she examines, the beauty of which can be downright inspiring. I was particularly delighted to rediscover Dennis Lee's "Civil Elegies," a poem that I haven't read in 10 years but which at one point was the catalyst for my conversion to the belief that literature about Toronto could be taken seriously (I was a naive English Lit undergraduate in love with New York back then).
As much as Imagining Toronto will appeal to Torontophiles, it shouldn't be mistaken for a straight-up guidebook to Toronto literature. While its coverage is indeed comprehensive, the point isn't merely to introduce readers to the city's seminal texts and literary themes, but to engage them in an ongoing discussion about our elusive but unique identity and the degree to which our literature is responsible for the construction of the place we refer to when we use the name "Toronto."
Imagining Toronto is published by Mansfield Press and costs $21.95. For more information, check out the book's website, which features loads of resources on Toronto literature and history.
from: Blog TO
Amy Lavender Harris has filled a longstanding gap in Toronto's literary scholarship with the publication of Imagining Toronto, a comprehensive overview of literature devoted to and set in this city. Although clearly rooted in academic research - Harris teaches in the Geography department at York University - this book is nevertheless a mostly accessible read that's as much a narrative of Toronto via its various fictions as it is an analysis of the dominant tropes and themes that underwrite local literary tradition.
That's probably a bit of a straw man opposition - good analysis is always already narrative - but it might prove a useful distinction for those considering whether or not to buy the book. Perhaps the greatest strength of Harris's text, and the reason why I would suggest it's well enough suited to a general audience, is the generosity with which the author uses direct quotations from her subject matter to document Toronto's literary lineage. I wouldn't normally highlight something like this for praise, but in this case it helps Harris to tell her particular story of Toronto in the least didactic manner possible. It also doesn't hurt that her selections are, for the most part, wonderfully curated.
Broadly speaking, Imagining Toronto makes the argument "that the cities we live in are made not merely of brick and mortar, or bureaucracy and money, but are equally the invention of our memories and imaginations." And in a city like Toronto, where so much of that which was built with bricks and mortar has been erased over the years, this theory is particularly seductive. How else can we access our history but via its construction in literature? For all the wonder of archival photographs, they remain somewhat hollow in the absence of context.
Given Harris's background, it's not surprising that some of the best moments in her book are descriptions of the city, be they of its geography, streetscape, built environment or residents. More often than not these come via the writers whose work she examines, the beauty of which can be downright inspiring. I was particularly delighted to rediscover Dennis Lee's "Civil Elegies," a poem that I haven't read in 10 years but which at one point was the catalyst for my conversion to the belief that literature about Toronto could be taken seriously (I was a naive English Lit undergraduate in love with New York back then).
As much as Imagining Toronto will appeal to Torontophiles, it shouldn't be mistaken for a straight-up guidebook to Toronto literature. While its coverage is indeed comprehensive, the point isn't merely to introduce readers to the city's seminal texts and literary themes, but to engage them in an ongoing discussion about our elusive but unique identity and the degree to which our literature is responsible for the construction of the place we refer to when we use the name "Toronto."
Imagining Toronto is published by Mansfield Press and costs $21.95. For more information, check out the book's website, which features loads of resources on Toronto literature and history.
from: Blog TO
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Queens Library Turns the Page on Buying New Books
by: Ilya Marritz
This is one for the books.
The Queens Library, one of the city's public libraries experiencing the budget squeeze, is taking an unprecedented step in its 104-year history and has stopped buying books.
Queens Public Library CEO Tom Galante said he doesn't want to upset bookworms, but late last year, Mayor Bloomberg asked the library to cut $4.5 million from its spending. As Galante saw it, the library board faced a choice: trim hours and staff as it had been doing for the past two years, or do something that goes against the very idea of a lending library and stop buying books.
“It was a tough decision, but we wanted to make sure that we maintained our hours,” Galante said.
Galante said the mission of the library has shifted subtly, from lending books to providing English lessons, aiding job seekers and providing Internet access.
“It really comes down to libraries being about community -- being a place for seniors in the morning, kids afterschool,” Galante said.
And so, the doors will stay open. Galante is hopeful the library can resume book buying in July, after it gets a new budget from the city.
Livia Maoz, who reads several books a week, said she gets nearly almost all of her reading material from the Queens Public Library.
"That's bad. That's very bad," Maoz said, mulling over the news as she browsed a new book display with the latest titles from John Grisham, Dennis Lehane and Anne McCaffrey.
"And when there are no new books, actually, they are limiting my experience, so this is bad,” She added.
And the decision to halt book buying is causing some alarm.
“It breaks my heart," said Audra Caplan, President of the Public Library Association. "You don’t do that unless you’re really in trouble.”
Caplan said Queens has long been considered an innovator and a model for smaller libraries across the nation. Like many of them, it’s now in fiscal distress. And Queens is not alone.
The Brooklyn Public Library has reduced book buying and hours. The New York Public Library -- which includes the Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan – is not hiring for empty positions. All three systems are seeing multimillion dollar budget cuts. But only Queens has stopped buying books entirely.
“I think part of that is the usage that we have,” Galante said. He believes Queens may be in a unique situation in part because of the popularity of the library's English-learners course and the breadth of its collections, which contain books in more than 100 languages.
Some borough political leaders think that is not the only issue. Councilman Leroy Comrie said Queens gets less money than it deserves from the city budget: “The city’s stuck on an old formula that they need to look at,” Comrie said.
Queens has consistently received less money per visitor than the other two library systems. From 2007-2010, the city spent on average $5.89 per patron in Queens, and $6.76 and $7.86 per patron in the Brooklyn and New York systems, respectively. A third more was spent per New York user than per user in Queens, on average.
Comrie said he’s working to fix the imbalance.
But Queens has other challenges. The library recently raised and spent a quarter of a billion dollars on capital projects – adding one new branch and renovating and expanding five other locations.
Galante said that’s a good thing, but it does create challenges: “We’ll have expanded our facilities by 30 percent without any additional operating support,” he said.
Recently, the library launched a “Buy a Book” campaign. The idea is to persuade users to pitch in $25 for their local library’s collection. In exchange, they’ll get an inscription of their choosing inside a new library book.
from: WNYC
This is one for the books.
The Queens Library, one of the city's public libraries experiencing the budget squeeze, is taking an unprecedented step in its 104-year history and has stopped buying books.
Queens Public Library CEO Tom Galante said he doesn't want to upset bookworms, but late last year, Mayor Bloomberg asked the library to cut $4.5 million from its spending. As Galante saw it, the library board faced a choice: trim hours and staff as it had been doing for the past two years, or do something that goes against the very idea of a lending library and stop buying books.
“It was a tough decision, but we wanted to make sure that we maintained our hours,” Galante said.
Galante said the mission of the library has shifted subtly, from lending books to providing English lessons, aiding job seekers and providing Internet access.
“It really comes down to libraries being about community -- being a place for seniors in the morning, kids afterschool,” Galante said.
And so, the doors will stay open. Galante is hopeful the library can resume book buying in July, after it gets a new budget from the city.
Livia Maoz, who reads several books a week, said she gets nearly almost all of her reading material from the Queens Public Library.
"That's bad. That's very bad," Maoz said, mulling over the news as she browsed a new book display with the latest titles from John Grisham, Dennis Lehane and Anne McCaffrey.
"And when there are no new books, actually, they are limiting my experience, so this is bad,” She added.
And the decision to halt book buying is causing some alarm.
“It breaks my heart," said Audra Caplan, President of the Public Library Association. "You don’t do that unless you’re really in trouble.”
Caplan said Queens has long been considered an innovator and a model for smaller libraries across the nation. Like many of them, it’s now in fiscal distress. And Queens is not alone.
The Brooklyn Public Library has reduced book buying and hours. The New York Public Library -- which includes the Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan – is not hiring for empty positions. All three systems are seeing multimillion dollar budget cuts. But only Queens has stopped buying books entirely.
“I think part of that is the usage that we have,” Galante said. He believes Queens may be in a unique situation in part because of the popularity of the library's English-learners course and the breadth of its collections, which contain books in more than 100 languages.
Some borough political leaders think that is not the only issue. Councilman Leroy Comrie said Queens gets less money than it deserves from the city budget: “The city’s stuck on an old formula that they need to look at,” Comrie said.
Queens has consistently received less money per visitor than the other two library systems. From 2007-2010, the city spent on average $5.89 per patron in Queens, and $6.76 and $7.86 per patron in the Brooklyn and New York systems, respectively. A third more was spent per New York user than per user in Queens, on average.
Comrie said he’s working to fix the imbalance.
But Queens has other challenges. The library recently raised and spent a quarter of a billion dollars on capital projects – adding one new branch and renovating and expanding five other locations.
Galante said that’s a good thing, but it does create challenges: “We’ll have expanded our facilities by 30 percent without any additional operating support,” he said.
Recently, the library launched a “Buy a Book” campaign. The idea is to persuade users to pitch in $25 for their local library’s collection. In exchange, they’ll get an inscription of their choosing inside a new library book.
from: WNYC
Friday, January 28, 2011
The "Granny Cloud" uses Skype to educate children in India
by: Courtney Boyd Myers
We use Skype at work, to catch up with friends, and to say goodnight to loved ones. But could it be used for greater good? One man, a professor of education technology at UK’s Newcastle University named Sugata Mitra, whose work inspired the film “Slumdog Millionaire,” decided he could use Skype to improve literacy and education around the globe.
On a trip to India a few years ago, Mitra asked a group of Indian children what they would like to use Skype for. “Surprisingly, they said they wanted British grandmothers to read them fairytales — they’d even worked out that between them they could afford to pay GBP 1 a week out of their own money,” Mitra told the Guardian in a report last year.
Mitra then began to search for volunteers. About 200 story telling Grannies responded. “Many are retired teachers, who are now regularly on Skype teaching children in the slums,” Mitra explained.
The project, called “Sole and Somes” or referred to as ““Granny Cloud” is now underway and has evolved from storytelling to the volunteers working as educational mentors. The mentors are available on Skype for about an hour a week and the sessions, involving conversations, story-telling and singing are led by a mediator. To become involved and learn more, check out Sole and Somes online.
from: The Next Web
We use Skype at work, to catch up with friends, and to say goodnight to loved ones. But could it be used for greater good? One man, a professor of education technology at UK’s Newcastle University named Sugata Mitra, whose work inspired the film “Slumdog Millionaire,” decided he could use Skype to improve literacy and education around the globe.
On a trip to India a few years ago, Mitra asked a group of Indian children what they would like to use Skype for. “Surprisingly, they said they wanted British grandmothers to read them fairytales — they’d even worked out that between them they could afford to pay GBP 1 a week out of their own money,” Mitra told the Guardian in a report last year.
Mitra then began to search for volunteers. About 200 story telling Grannies responded. “Many are retired teachers, who are now regularly on Skype teaching children in the slums,” Mitra explained.
The project, called “Sole and Somes” or referred to as ““Granny Cloud” is now underway and has evolved from storytelling to the volunteers working as educational mentors. The mentors are available on Skype for about an hour a week and the sessions, involving conversations, story-telling and singing are led by a mediator. To become involved and learn more, check out Sole and Somes online.
from: The Next Web
Thursday, January 27, 2011
It's time to stop this obsession with works of art based on real events
From Oscar favourite The King's Speech to ex-Booker winner Wolf Hall, art that retells events is now the mainstay of films and books. But the concentration on reality stops writers using the imagination for storytelling.
by: William Skidelsky
Throughout their history, movies have been talked about in terms of dreaming: studios are "dream factories"; Hollywood is "the land of dreams". But scanning the list of contenders for this year's Oscars, such descriptions feels misplaced. The most striking thing about the leading films of the last 12 months is how many draw their inspiration from fact.
The leading Oscar contenders, The King's Speech and The Social Network, both offer fictionalised portraits of familiar but enigmatic public figures – a monarch and a monumentally successful entrepreneur. But it's also true of other hotly tipped releases such as The Fighter (about boxer Micky Ward) and 127 Hours (about rock climber Aron Ralston), as well as films still to hit our screens such as The Conquest (about the early life of President Sarkozy) or next year's Freddie Mercury movie starring Sacha Baron Cohen.
Is this glut of fact-based films a coincidence, or is something fundamental going on? Artists basing work on real people and events is hardly a new phenomenon. Shakespeare was very good at it, as Henry IV and Richard III attest. In Paradise Lost, Milton fictionalised the lives of two figures then regarded as historical: Adam and Eve. One of the greatest of all films, Citizen Kane, was inspired by the life of William Randolph Hearst. Even so, there has been a shift in recent years away from works of pure imagination towards ones that combine fact and fiction. This has been the case in every story-based medium.
Take literature. By far the most successful British novel of the last two years (if you measure success in terms of acclaim as well as sales) has been Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning Wolf Hall, based on the life of Thomas Cromwell. Though a superb literary achievement, Wolf Hall is also not unlike The King's Speech (or indeed The Social Network) in the way it takes a factual story whose contours are already familiar (in this case, the reign of Henry VIII) and attempts to unmask the private truth behind it. It is far from being alone. Accompanying Mantel's novel on the 2009 Booker shortlist were Adam Foulds's The Quickening Maze, about the poet John Clare, AS Byatt's The Children's Book, whose heroine is modelled on the writer E Nesbit, and Simon Mawer's The Glass Room, set in a (real) modernist villa in 1930s Czechoslovakia. Howard Jacobson's two closest challengers for last year's Booker likewise drew their inspiration from real events: Peter Carey, in Parrot and Olivier in America, fictionalised the life of Alexis de Tocqueville, while Emma Donoghue, in Room, gave us an imaginative response to Josef Fritzl. This spring the trend continues, with novels about Herman Melville (by Jay Parini), HG Wells (by David Lodge), and Princess Diana (by Monica Ali), to name a few.
Television and theatre are no different. In recent times BBC4 has churned out endless biopics whose subjects include Fanny Cradock, Kenneth Williams, Enid Blyton and Barbara Cartland. There was the Channel 4 drama The Deal (in which Michael Sheen made his debut as Tony Blair) and the Yorkshire Ripper-inspired Red Riding Quartet. In coming months, there's a BBC2 drama about the Munich air crash and an ITV film about Fred West. On stage, there's been the revival of political theatre, not to mention the spectacular success of plays such as Frost/Nixon and Enron.
What has prompted this flood of fact-based storytelling? The reasons for these kinds of cultural shift are never easy to pinpoint, but this one surely has a lot to do with changing ideas about privacy and truth. Over the past decade or so we have, as a culture, become much less attached to the idea that certain aspects of life should remain private. An increasingly intrusive press regards it as its job to sniff out the secrets of the rich and famous. Respect towards those in positions of authority has dramatically declined. The result is that a terrain to which entry was once largely barred – the private lives of those in the public gaze – has become accessible. And this has given new licence to artists. Even a decade ago, it would have been hard to imagine a film like The Queen – dealing with the relationship between a living monarch and a serving prime minister – being made. Now finding yourself in a novel or film is one of the hazards of being famous.
This scaling back of the private sphere has coincided with something else: a growing belief that it is in personal relationships and feelings that the important truths about the world are to be found. While the concept of a public facade has always existed, it has never held greater sway than it does today. Most people intuitively feel that the majority of what is reported – in newspapers, history books, government documents – is false, or only partly true, and that the important stuff happens behind closed doors, or inside people's heads. This is reflected in the way the New Labour epoch is discussed, with an overriding focus on the relationships between the protagonists and, often, their psychological states.
Yet this belief in a private domain where ultimate truth lies creates a problem. For we can be fed endless information – diaries and memoirs, leaked diplomatic documents – but none will necessarily tell us what went on. The apparatus of factual exposure habitually falls short. This, of course, is where art comes in. Artists may not be better acquainted with the truth than anyone else, but they can do something that others can't: describe plausibly what might have happened.
So much for the causes of our new fondness for factual drama. It is a trend to be welcomed or deplored? It may seem odd to begrudge artists any new outlet for expression that helps them pay the bills. Yet we would do well to be aware of the limitations of fact-based storytelling and recognise the confusions it can produce.
For one thing, if interest in a work of art is triggered by a desire to learn about real events, that represents a radical shift in our understanding of art's purpose. Throughout history, people have turned to art for various reasons, but two consistent ones have been a desire to be entertained or transported and a desire to learn more about what might be called (for want of a better term) the human condition. Yet in a world of docudramas and biopics, another factor enters the picture. Storytelling becomes a kind of lightweight pedagogical aid – almost a branch of investigative journalism. The risk here is that, by being placed at the service of factual knowledge, creativity loses its justification and becomes devalued as a result.
We can see this tendency at work in a comment made in 2009 by BBC4 controller Richard Klein, who defended the channel's reliance on biopics as follows: "As a small digital channel, it's hard to get anyone to come and watch pure fiction that no one has heard of before. Basing our dramas on factually based stories, we can re-examine and reinterpret, but people already have an interest." This depressing statement sums up an attitude that is creeping into our discourse, which is that a good story, on its own, isn't enough to "hook" people; that films, novels and dramas need to be bolstered by topical or historical "relevance".
If the rise of fact-based fiction creates confusion about the point of art, the same applies to our criteria for judging it. A work that re-imagines events becomes subtly different from one that makes up a story. As we saw last week with the "Nazi whitewashing" accusations thrown at The King's Speech, purely aesthetic judgments compete with other questions: how skilfully the storyteller re-creates the past; what version of history is being presented. The inevitable result is that attention is transferred from the work to the skill of the film-maker or writer. There's a necessarily self-conscious quality to films such as The King's Speech and The Social Network and this limits their ability to transport us.
Clever and interesting though such works may be, the truth is that, by the highest standards of art, they are meagre offerings that cannot escape the confines of their reality-bound aspirations. Against them, it is worth considering other recent, truly great, historical films, such as Michael Haneke's White Ribbon, or Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, or indeed a historical novel like Colm Tóibín's Brooklyn. All are mind-blowing precisely because they are works of imagination that, while set in the past, don't tether themselves too closely to events. The King's Speech and The Social Network may deserve admiration, even acclaim, but in our headlong rush to celebrate them we should bear in mind that great art strives for more.
ENHANCED REALITIES
Room Emma Donoghue
Last year's Booker-shortlisted novel tells the story of Jack, a five-year old boy held in captivity in an underground room along with his mother. It was inspired by the Josef Fritzl case and others like it, but the story and characters don't correspond directly to real ones.
The Ghost Robert Harris
This 2007 thriller (turned into a film by Roman Polanski last year) centres on an ex-British prime minister and his efforts to write his autobiography. Though the events are imaginary, the main character, Adam Lang, is modelled closely on Tony Blair.
United 93 Paul Greengrass
The British director's 2006 film imagines what happened on the fourth 9/11 plane, on which the passengers fought back and forced the plane to crash. The film draws on evidence, including passenger mobile phone calls, to recreate scenes to which there were no surviving witnesses.
Enron Lucy Prebble
The 2009 play fictionalises the collapse of the Texas energy company. It sticks to the broad facts and the characters are real, but Prebble adds surreal flourishes, including singing troupes, light sabres and shadow companies depicted as birds of prey.
The Damned Utd David Peace
The 2006 novel (turned into a 2009 film by The King's Speech director Tom Hooper) charts Brian Clough's unhappy 44-day reign as manager of Leeds United in 1974. The characters are real and the story sticks to the facts of history, but the inner turmoil of the protagonist is imaginary.
from: Guardian
by: William Skidelsky
Throughout their history, movies have been talked about in terms of dreaming: studios are "dream factories"; Hollywood is "the land of dreams". But scanning the list of contenders for this year's Oscars, such descriptions feels misplaced. The most striking thing about the leading films of the last 12 months is how many draw their inspiration from fact.
The leading Oscar contenders, The King's Speech and The Social Network, both offer fictionalised portraits of familiar but enigmatic public figures – a monarch and a monumentally successful entrepreneur. But it's also true of other hotly tipped releases such as The Fighter (about boxer Micky Ward) and 127 Hours (about rock climber Aron Ralston), as well as films still to hit our screens such as The Conquest (about the early life of President Sarkozy) or next year's Freddie Mercury movie starring Sacha Baron Cohen.
Is this glut of fact-based films a coincidence, or is something fundamental going on? Artists basing work on real people and events is hardly a new phenomenon. Shakespeare was very good at it, as Henry IV and Richard III attest. In Paradise Lost, Milton fictionalised the lives of two figures then regarded as historical: Adam and Eve. One of the greatest of all films, Citizen Kane, was inspired by the life of William Randolph Hearst. Even so, there has been a shift in recent years away from works of pure imagination towards ones that combine fact and fiction. This has been the case in every story-based medium.
Take literature. By far the most successful British novel of the last two years (if you measure success in terms of acclaim as well as sales) has been Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning Wolf Hall, based on the life of Thomas Cromwell. Though a superb literary achievement, Wolf Hall is also not unlike The King's Speech (or indeed The Social Network) in the way it takes a factual story whose contours are already familiar (in this case, the reign of Henry VIII) and attempts to unmask the private truth behind it. It is far from being alone. Accompanying Mantel's novel on the 2009 Booker shortlist were Adam Foulds's The Quickening Maze, about the poet John Clare, AS Byatt's The Children's Book, whose heroine is modelled on the writer E Nesbit, and Simon Mawer's The Glass Room, set in a (real) modernist villa in 1930s Czechoslovakia. Howard Jacobson's two closest challengers for last year's Booker likewise drew their inspiration from real events: Peter Carey, in Parrot and Olivier in America, fictionalised the life of Alexis de Tocqueville, while Emma Donoghue, in Room, gave us an imaginative response to Josef Fritzl. This spring the trend continues, with novels about Herman Melville (by Jay Parini), HG Wells (by David Lodge), and Princess Diana (by Monica Ali), to name a few.
Television and theatre are no different. In recent times BBC4 has churned out endless biopics whose subjects include Fanny Cradock, Kenneth Williams, Enid Blyton and Barbara Cartland. There was the Channel 4 drama The Deal (in which Michael Sheen made his debut as Tony Blair) and the Yorkshire Ripper-inspired Red Riding Quartet. In coming months, there's a BBC2 drama about the Munich air crash and an ITV film about Fred West. On stage, there's been the revival of political theatre, not to mention the spectacular success of plays such as Frost/Nixon and Enron.
What has prompted this flood of fact-based storytelling? The reasons for these kinds of cultural shift are never easy to pinpoint, but this one surely has a lot to do with changing ideas about privacy and truth. Over the past decade or so we have, as a culture, become much less attached to the idea that certain aspects of life should remain private. An increasingly intrusive press regards it as its job to sniff out the secrets of the rich and famous. Respect towards those in positions of authority has dramatically declined. The result is that a terrain to which entry was once largely barred – the private lives of those in the public gaze – has become accessible. And this has given new licence to artists. Even a decade ago, it would have been hard to imagine a film like The Queen – dealing with the relationship between a living monarch and a serving prime minister – being made. Now finding yourself in a novel or film is one of the hazards of being famous.
This scaling back of the private sphere has coincided with something else: a growing belief that it is in personal relationships and feelings that the important truths about the world are to be found. While the concept of a public facade has always existed, it has never held greater sway than it does today. Most people intuitively feel that the majority of what is reported – in newspapers, history books, government documents – is false, or only partly true, and that the important stuff happens behind closed doors, or inside people's heads. This is reflected in the way the New Labour epoch is discussed, with an overriding focus on the relationships between the protagonists and, often, their psychological states.
Yet this belief in a private domain where ultimate truth lies creates a problem. For we can be fed endless information – diaries and memoirs, leaked diplomatic documents – but none will necessarily tell us what went on. The apparatus of factual exposure habitually falls short. This, of course, is where art comes in. Artists may not be better acquainted with the truth than anyone else, but they can do something that others can't: describe plausibly what might have happened.
So much for the causes of our new fondness for factual drama. It is a trend to be welcomed or deplored? It may seem odd to begrudge artists any new outlet for expression that helps them pay the bills. Yet we would do well to be aware of the limitations of fact-based storytelling and recognise the confusions it can produce.
For one thing, if interest in a work of art is triggered by a desire to learn about real events, that represents a radical shift in our understanding of art's purpose. Throughout history, people have turned to art for various reasons, but two consistent ones have been a desire to be entertained or transported and a desire to learn more about what might be called (for want of a better term) the human condition. Yet in a world of docudramas and biopics, another factor enters the picture. Storytelling becomes a kind of lightweight pedagogical aid – almost a branch of investigative journalism. The risk here is that, by being placed at the service of factual knowledge, creativity loses its justification and becomes devalued as a result.
We can see this tendency at work in a comment made in 2009 by BBC4 controller Richard Klein, who defended the channel's reliance on biopics as follows: "As a small digital channel, it's hard to get anyone to come and watch pure fiction that no one has heard of before. Basing our dramas on factually based stories, we can re-examine and reinterpret, but people already have an interest." This depressing statement sums up an attitude that is creeping into our discourse, which is that a good story, on its own, isn't enough to "hook" people; that films, novels and dramas need to be bolstered by topical or historical "relevance".
If the rise of fact-based fiction creates confusion about the point of art, the same applies to our criteria for judging it. A work that re-imagines events becomes subtly different from one that makes up a story. As we saw last week with the "Nazi whitewashing" accusations thrown at The King's Speech, purely aesthetic judgments compete with other questions: how skilfully the storyteller re-creates the past; what version of history is being presented. The inevitable result is that attention is transferred from the work to the skill of the film-maker or writer. There's a necessarily self-conscious quality to films such as The King's Speech and The Social Network and this limits their ability to transport us.
Clever and interesting though such works may be, the truth is that, by the highest standards of art, they are meagre offerings that cannot escape the confines of their reality-bound aspirations. Against them, it is worth considering other recent, truly great, historical films, such as Michael Haneke's White Ribbon, or Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, or indeed a historical novel like Colm Tóibín's Brooklyn. All are mind-blowing precisely because they are works of imagination that, while set in the past, don't tether themselves too closely to events. The King's Speech and The Social Network may deserve admiration, even acclaim, but in our headlong rush to celebrate them we should bear in mind that great art strives for more.
ENHANCED REALITIES
Room Emma Donoghue
Last year's Booker-shortlisted novel tells the story of Jack, a five-year old boy held in captivity in an underground room along with his mother. It was inspired by the Josef Fritzl case and others like it, but the story and characters don't correspond directly to real ones.
The Ghost Robert Harris
This 2007 thriller (turned into a film by Roman Polanski last year) centres on an ex-British prime minister and his efforts to write his autobiography. Though the events are imaginary, the main character, Adam Lang, is modelled closely on Tony Blair.
United 93 Paul Greengrass
The British director's 2006 film imagines what happened on the fourth 9/11 plane, on which the passengers fought back and forced the plane to crash. The film draws on evidence, including passenger mobile phone calls, to recreate scenes to which there were no surviving witnesses.
Enron Lucy Prebble
The 2009 play fictionalises the collapse of the Texas energy company. It sticks to the broad facts and the characters are real, but Prebble adds surreal flourishes, including singing troupes, light sabres and shadow companies depicted as birds of prey.
The Damned Utd David Peace
The 2006 novel (turned into a 2009 film by The King's Speech director Tom Hooper) charts Brian Clough's unhappy 44-day reign as manager of Leeds United in 1974. The characters are real and the story sticks to the facts of history, but the inner turmoil of the protagonist is imaginary.
from: Guardian
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Arthur Conan Doyle collection has a Toronto home
by: Heather Gilroy
Oddly enough, Toronto has one of the world's finest Arthur Conan Doyle collections. Hidden on the fifth floor of the Toronto Reference Library and on your left after leaving the elevator it's tucked away in its own room: a well ordered explosion of all things Arthur Conan Doyle. Of course, there's also an overwhelming amount of Sherlock Holmes books and paraphernalia. After all, and much to Conan Doyle's chagrin, he was his most famous invention.
The books are new and old. There's correspondence written by the man himself. His books are there, scrawled over by his children. There are books about him and books by him. And then there are pastiches - books by other authors who've used his characters in a type of literarily recognized "fan fiction". The most contemporary is Neil Gaiman. Among the first is Mark Twain.
There's even a shelf dedicated to the people who obsess over Detective Holmes, "Sherlockians" who meet to debate and discuss the fictional man and his creator. They put out a large volume of newsletters.
The collection was established in 1969 with the purchase of over 150 volumes that were part of the estate of Arthur Baillie, a Toronto collector. But it wasn't open to the public until January 10, 1971, and housed in what was then called the Metropolitan Toronto Central Library, at 214 College Street. A mixture of donations and acquisitions, it grew exponentially, and when the library became the Toronto Reference Library and moved to its current 789 Yonge St. location, the collection moved too.
While there are other great Conan Doyle collections, what makes Toronto's so unique is that patrons are able to touch and read the works at their leisure. Its door is only unlocked Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon, but while it's open, ordinary folk are able to roam a room decorated like the 221 Baker Street apartment in the Holmes series. Only the machine that measures the room's humidity levels as a reminder that this is a rare book collection, and not a fantasy library in your home.
However, I can't help but note the rooms' sparsely signed guest book. Some days, five people come in. Some days, no one does. My librarian guide, admits, "We never intended to be Toronto's best-kept-secret."
But she does let me know about The Boot Makers of Toronto (basically the Sherlock Holmes Society of Canada). The society is a devoted group, named after the only mention of Toronto in the series; in Hound of the Baskervilles, Mr. Baskerville's boot had a made-in-Toronto stamp on its sole. The group even has an annual awards gala where they all dress in Victorian-era costume.
The room might have a small fandom, but at least it's devoted.
Photos by: Dennis Marciniak
from: BlogTO
 |
The books are new and old. There's correspondence written by the man himself. His books are there, scrawled over by his children. There are books about him and books by him. And then there are pastiches - books by other authors who've used his characters in a type of literarily recognized "fan fiction". The most contemporary is Neil Gaiman. Among the first is Mark Twain.
There's even a shelf dedicated to the people who obsess over Detective Holmes, "Sherlockians" who meet to debate and discuss the fictional man and his creator. They put out a large volume of newsletters.
The collection was established in 1969 with the purchase of over 150 volumes that were part of the estate of Arthur Baillie, a Toronto collector. But it wasn't open to the public until January 10, 1971, and housed in what was then called the Metropolitan Toronto Central Library, at 214 College Street. A mixture of donations and acquisitions, it grew exponentially, and when the library became the Toronto Reference Library and moved to its current 789 Yonge St. location, the collection moved too.
While there are other great Conan Doyle collections, what makes Toronto's so unique is that patrons are able to touch and read the works at their leisure. Its door is only unlocked Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon, but while it's open, ordinary folk are able to roam a room decorated like the 221 Baker Street apartment in the Holmes series. Only the machine that measures the room's humidity levels as a reminder that this is a rare book collection, and not a fantasy library in your home.
However, I can't help but note the rooms' sparsely signed guest book. Some days, five people come in. Some days, no one does. My librarian guide, admits, "We never intended to be Toronto's best-kept-secret."
But she does let me know about The Boot Makers of Toronto (basically the Sherlock Holmes Society of Canada). The society is a devoted group, named after the only mention of Toronto in the series; in Hound of the Baskervilles, Mr. Baskerville's boot had a made-in-Toronto stamp on its sole. The group even has an annual awards gala where they all dress in Victorian-era costume.
The room might have a small fandom, but at least it's devoted.
Photos by: Dennis Marciniak
from: BlogTO
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Watching Our Researchers Like a Hawk
by: Matt Raymond
You know that poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Allan Poe? The one where a guy holes himself up in a room surrounded by books, only to be pestered by a bird looking over his shoulder? Yeah, that one.
Well, a few of our researchers might have been getting a similar feeling lately, but on a much grander scale.
What one birder at the Library billed (no pun intended) as a Cooper’s Hawk–crowd-source a correction if I’m wrong–somehow recently got into the Library’s majestic Main Reading Room, and has been winging about ever since. It was first noticed by a patron looking dome-ward yesterday afternoon. I’ll include a few pictures here, taken by our very able Abby Brack.
Naturally, this event has prompted many questions, the most obvious of which being: How on Earth did a Cooper’s Hawk get into the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress?! I can’t answer that. But I can provide a few Q’s followed by a few A’s.
How do you know it’s a Cooper’s Hawk?
We don’t know for sure. But a Library staffer who by avocation is a birder checked an app she keeps on her iPhone and determined that to be the likely breed.
Have you tried to get it down?
The same Library staffer used the same iPhone app to play an audio clip of the call of a Cooper’s Hawk in order to lure it down, but to no avail.
Surely you can’t be serious. Have you really tried to get it down?
I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley. (Shout-out to the 2010 National Film Registry!)
What other steps are you taking?
You mean aside from several very fast steps and hitting the deck if it dive-bombs us? We immediately took steps to analyze a safe approach to handle the situation with minimum disruption to patrons. We are calling in experts from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a division of the Department of the Interior, to continue the efforts to safely return it to the outdoors. It is possible that the bird is an endangered species.
Now that you mention it, has it dive-bombed anyone?
That was purely hypothetical. It seems to be an agreeable enough bird. It’s not ruffling our patrons’ feathers, and they aren’t bothering it either. To them, the whole situation is like water off a duck’s back.
OK, you knew I was going to ask this, but how the heck do you think it got in?
We’re not sure, but the working theory is that there was an open or possibly a broken window high in the building. We monitor those kinds of things closely, but storm breakage can sometimes occur. That might have allowed the hawk in. Pigeons sometimes congregate on our roof areas, and hawks often find them irresistible hors d’oeuvre.
How is the bird doing?
The reading room was open until 9 p.m. yesterday, and staff checked on the bird throughout the night. It remains in the reading room at this hour, and it appears to be in good health.
No, and no bookworms either.
How much do you think the bird is worth?
Once we get it in hand, I would say it’s worth at least two in the bush. Or at least that’s what the Geico commercial says.
Will you be releasing any other wildlife into the Main Reading Room?
Staff are contemplating that, both to keep themselves alert and on their toes, and also to prevent researchers from taking long naps.
Finally, does the hawk have a name?
Thank you for your time, Matt.
You’re welcome, Matt. But before I go, I’d like to thank my staff for offering up many of these jokes. But only the bad ones.
You know that poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Allan Poe? The one where a guy holes himself up in a room surrounded by books, only to be pestered by a bird looking over his shoulder? Yeah, that one.
Well, a few of our researchers might have been getting a similar feeling lately, but on a much grander scale.
What one birder at the Library billed (no pun intended) as a Cooper’s Hawk–crowd-source a correction if I’m wrong–somehow recently got into the Library’s majestic Main Reading Room, and has been winging about ever since. It was first noticed by a patron looking dome-ward yesterday afternoon. I’ll include a few pictures here, taken by our very able Abby Brack.
Naturally, this event has prompted many questions, the most obvious of which being: How on Earth did a Cooper’s Hawk get into the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress?! I can’t answer that. But I can provide a few Q’s followed by a few A’s.
 |
| I always feel like ... some birdie's watching meeee! (Photo by Abby Brack/Library of Congress, and the linked photo is pretty big) |
How do you know it’s a Cooper’s Hawk?
We don’t know for sure. But a Library staffer who by avocation is a birder checked an app she keeps on her iPhone and determined that to be the likely breed.
Have you tried to get it down?
The same Library staffer used the same iPhone app to play an audio clip of the call of a Cooper’s Hawk in order to lure it down, but to no avail.
Surely you can’t be serious. Have you really tried to get it down?
I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley. (Shout-out to the 2010 National Film Registry!)
What other steps are you taking?
You mean aside from several very fast steps and hitting the deck if it dive-bombs us? We immediately took steps to analyze a safe approach to handle the situation with minimum disruption to patrons. We are calling in experts from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a division of the Department of the Interior, to continue the efforts to safely return it to the outdoors. It is possible that the bird is an endangered species.
 |
| An unidentified cherub (pictured at left) tries to smash the bird with a book, while the figure of Human Understanding (center) uses her veil like a net to snag it. (Photo by Abby Brack/Library of Congress. Mural by Edwin Blashfield, 1848--1936.) |
That was purely hypothetical. It seems to be an agreeable enough bird. It’s not ruffling our patrons’ feathers, and they aren’t bothering it either. To them, the whole situation is like water off a duck’s back.
OK, you knew I was going to ask this, but how the heck do you think it got in?
We’re not sure, but the working theory is that there was an open or possibly a broken window high in the building. We monitor those kinds of things closely, but storm breakage can sometimes occur. That might have allowed the hawk in. Pigeons sometimes congregate on our roof areas, and hawks often find them irresistible hors d’oeuvre.
How is the bird doing?
The reading room was open until 9 p.m. yesterday, and staff checked on the bird throughout the night. It remains in the reading room at this hour, and it appears to be in good health.
 |
| If I leave here tomorrow ... would you still remember me? (Photo by Abby Brack/Library of Congress) |
So you’re not feeding it any mice?
No, and no bookworms either.
How much do you think the bird is worth?
Will you be releasing any other wildlife into the Main Reading Room?
Staff are contemplating that, both to keep themselves alert and on their toes, and also to prevent researchers from taking long naps.
Finally, does the hawk have a name?
“Cooper” seems pretty predictable and banal, right? Maybe Fenimore? I wonder what our readers might propose instead.
from: Library of Congress blog
Monday, January 24, 2011
Plan to bridge separation of service families with joint reading scheme
Reading Force encourages military personnel to share reading experience with families at home.
by: Benedicte Page
A new scheme, designed to bridge the divide separating military personnel serving overseas from their families at home by encouraging them all to read the same books, is to be launched in March.
The Reading Force project, which will be introduced at Hampshire's Aldershot Garrison, was devised by Alison Baverstock, a lecturer in publishing at Kingston University who is herself married to a soldier.
Baverstock was inspired to create the scheme following her own experience of having her husband away on a tour of duty. The family, she found, struggled to relate to one another during phone calls because of the difference in their daily experiences. "When your husband rings up from Afghanistan or Iraq, you have a very limited time to talk, but sometimes you just don't know what to talk about," she said. "Your existence can seem quite humdrum in comparison to theirs – and you can't ask them what they are doing [because military details are secret]. Being able to talk about a book we're both reading is great because it gives us some common ground."
Reading Force will encourage groups of family and friends of soldiers to commit to reading the same book, and recording their thoughts about it – whether by letter, email or in a drawing – in a scrapbook. Those away on tour will also get involved, helping families feel connected and to bond again properly when the tour of duty is over. "It can be hard for soldiers to feel involved in the family when they come home again," Baverstock explained.
Those involved can choose any book, though Reading Force does have a few suggestions: a picture book, a Meg Rosoff novel, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and a Bobby Moore biography. But what matters, said Baverstock, is that the book that works for the people involved and the situation they find themselves in.
Children's writers Jacqueline Wilson, Alan Gibbons and Lee Weatherly, author of Child X, have all voiced support for the scheme. Weatherly called it a "brilliant" idea, saying: "Sharing the experience of reading is such a great way for families and the wider community to feel connected – and getting to make a unique Reading Force scrapbook together just adds to the fun." Baverstock said she had had a "fantastic" response from authors wanting to take part in events to support the scheme, including a "writing day" to be held in Aldershot on 5 March. "There is a lot of empathy for service families, and of course at the moment they have a very high profile," she said.
Another scheme that works to link military personnel with their distant families through reading is run by the American non-profit organisation United Through Reading, which has a programme that gives deployed soldiers the chance to record themselves reading stories onto a DVD for their children to listen to at bedtime.
from: Guardian
by: Benedicte Page
A new scheme, designed to bridge the divide separating military personnel serving overseas from their families at home by encouraging them all to read the same books, is to be launched in March.
The Reading Force project, which will be introduced at Hampshire's Aldershot Garrison, was devised by Alison Baverstock, a lecturer in publishing at Kingston University who is herself married to a soldier.
Baverstock was inspired to create the scheme following her own experience of having her husband away on a tour of duty. The family, she found, struggled to relate to one another during phone calls because of the difference in their daily experiences. "When your husband rings up from Afghanistan or Iraq, you have a very limited time to talk, but sometimes you just don't know what to talk about," she said. "Your existence can seem quite humdrum in comparison to theirs – and you can't ask them what they are doing [because military details are secret]. Being able to talk about a book we're both reading is great because it gives us some common ground."
Reading Force will encourage groups of family and friends of soldiers to commit to reading the same book, and recording their thoughts about it – whether by letter, email or in a drawing – in a scrapbook. Those away on tour will also get involved, helping families feel connected and to bond again properly when the tour of duty is over. "It can be hard for soldiers to feel involved in the family when they come home again," Baverstock explained.
Those involved can choose any book, though Reading Force does have a few suggestions: a picture book, a Meg Rosoff novel, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and a Bobby Moore biography. But what matters, said Baverstock, is that the book that works for the people involved and the situation they find themselves in.
Children's writers Jacqueline Wilson, Alan Gibbons and Lee Weatherly, author of Child X, have all voiced support for the scheme. Weatherly called it a "brilliant" idea, saying: "Sharing the experience of reading is such a great way for families and the wider community to feel connected – and getting to make a unique Reading Force scrapbook together just adds to the fun." Baverstock said she had had a "fantastic" response from authors wanting to take part in events to support the scheme, including a "writing day" to be held in Aldershot on 5 March. "There is a lot of empathy for service families, and of course at the moment they have a very high profile," she said.
Another scheme that works to link military personnel with their distant families through reading is run by the American non-profit organisation United Through Reading, which has a programme that gives deployed soldiers the chance to record themselves reading stories onto a DVD for their children to listen to at bedtime.
from: Guardian
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Overdue! The fight to save our libraries begins
Hundreds of branches are under threat as local councils plan cuts that will erode Britain's cultural base
by: Nina Lakhani and Krunal Dutta
Britain's public libraries, for generations a source of enjoyment and education to millions of children and adults, will become the focus of bitter political battles and legal action this month as users fight to prevent mass closures.
More than 400 libraries from the Isle of Wight to South Wales and Yorkshire face the axe as councils make difficult choices about the future of local services to meet government demands for £6.5bn of savings over two years. The number could double as half of all councils are yet to announce their money-saving plans.
Campaigners, who include Joanna Trollope, Philip Pullman and Tony Christie, are demanding a public inquiry into the cuts which they say amount to an attack on Britain's cultural and knowledge base. They claim Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, could avert expensive local legal challenges by ordering an inquiry into the legality of the planned closures.
Encouraged by David Cameron's Big Society philosophy, councils across the UK say volunteers must replace paid staff if libraries are to be saved. This week the Government will unveil its plan to give communities the right to bid to take over state-run services. But experts say that politicians have failed to understand the social, cultural and educational importance of libraries, and the role librarians play in providing services.
The Labour leader Ed Miliband said yesterday his party would back campaigns to save libraries as "a place where community is built, as families get to know each other and form friendships". A national day of action is planned for 5 February in libraries serving poor and affluent areas, countering claims by a quango leader that libraries are the preserve of the "privileged, mainly white middle classes".
Lib Dem and Tory ministers have privately expressed concern about the threat posed to libraries, but remain anxious to make clear that under the coalition, local decisions are taken without Whitehall interference. Eric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, has warned councils repeatedly against cutting frontline services without first looking for savings elsewhere. "The Government has delivered a tough but fair local government settlement that ensures the most vulnerable communities are protected," a spokesman said.
However, Ed Vaizey, the Tory culture minister, has been singled out for anger because of his high-profile opposition to library closures while in opposition. Critics say Mr Vaizey, who referred to library closures as "cost-driven vandalism" in 2009, has become "impotent" in a department "frozen into inactivity".
Mr Vaizey dismissed these accusations as "wrong" and told The Independent on Sunday that he has been "very active" as libraries minister. He rejected calls for an inquiry into the closures but said every council decision would be checked to ensure statutory obligations were still met. His Future Libraries Programme will report on alternatives ways of providing library services later this year, but this will come too late for many libraries.
Desmond Clarke, former director of Faber & Faber publishers, said: "There is a leadership void at a time of major crisis. We need someone more senior than Ed Vaizey to intervene immediately as the wave of rebellion among people in towns and communities is growing. The impact on local communities will be devastating, the savings relatively small."
Annie Mauger, chief executive of Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip), said: "This is not just about what libraries do, it is about what they represent: free access to knowledge and information for everyone. It feels Orwellian that we'll wake up one day and a third of all the libraries are gone. Is that the type of society we want?"
Across England and Wales, libraries face cuts of 20 to 30 per cent, which means as many as one in five libraries and one in four full-time librarian jobs are at risk, according to Cilip. This comes despite the fact more than 300 million books were borrowed last year. Tens of thousands of people use the internet in libraries every day.
Library users in Oxfordshire, Lewisham, Doncaster, Somerset and Gloucestershire are among those who have sought legal advice about challenging local closures of about 50 per cent, which they say will make it impossible for councils to provide "comprehensive", "efficient" and "improving" library services required under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act. The Local Government Association said councils were being impeded by the "badly outdated" legislation which was drawn up before the arrival of the internet.
Oxfordshire County Council has earmarked 20 out of 43 libraries for closure. It is unlikely to help Oxford's attempt to become Unesco's World City of the Book in 2014. Within the largely affluent county is one of Europe's biggest housing estates, Blackbird Leys, which is in the bottom 10 per cent of areas for educational achievement. Its library is at risk; the main libraries used by Mr Cameron and Mr Vaizey's constituents in Witney and Wantage are safe, although smaller branches are threatened.
In Somerset, 20 out of 34 libraries are under threat, but the council is considering charging membership fees to save some. London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, last week announced plans to establish a trust of volunteers to run the capital's libraries, a third of which are under threat.
A DCMS spokeswoman said: "Legal challenges mounted against local authorities are a matter for the interested parties and the courts and outside the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State... It is premature to consider intervention at such a stage."
What the users say: 'Losing ours would have a big impact'
Marion Pagan, 86, regularly uses Hester's Way Library in Cheltenham. An avid reader, she has been a member for nearly 40 years, and will find it difficult to get to Cheltenham Central library. "They never closed libraries during the war, so it seems drastic now. It would be a big loss to me if it closes. It makes a big difference to me, especially because I'm old, and I would really miss it."
Rose Stephenson, 44, a community development worker in Somerset, has two teenage children who use the library. "The local Martock Library is a three-minute walk away. I would have to drive eight to 10 miles to the next nearest library, which would take much more planning. And the village youth centre, which used to provide facilities and activities for teenagers, is closed, so losing the library would have a big impact."
Isabel Anderson, nine, suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and has been off school for over a year. Her local library in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, has helped her not to fall behind in her school work. She is too tired to travel further away. "I use my library two or three times a week for books, DVDs and story tapes. When I was really ill, libraries provided me with something to do and helped me to keep up with school."
Ruth Corboy, 42, is a mother from Milton Keynes and a regular user of Stony Stratford Library, where members have emptied the shelves in protest. "Our library is one of the few community spaces that mothers still feel safe sending their children. It has been critical to my daughter's education, and she frequently uses it. Visits from authors and teachers provide entertainment and inspiration that supplements their schooling."
Mily Newton, 10, from Blockley in Somerset, who wants to be an author when she grows up, said: "I love to read, so I am very upset about the library cuts. I use the mobile library lots as my mum and dad work, so we don't have time to visit the local library. On the small close where I live there are 18 or more children who always go to the library bus."
A treasured part of British life
Charles Dickens described libraries as a "source of pleasure and improvements in the cottages, the garrets and the ghettos of the poorest of our people", at the opening of Manchester's first public library in 1852. This came two years after the Public Library Act was introduced to "raise educational standards throughout society".
At first, Tory sceptics argued that Britain's wealthier classes should not pay for a service that would predominantly benefit the working class. But donations from wealthy entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie helped to finance hundreds of public libraries. They became a gateway out of social exclusion and a treasured aspect of cultural life.
By 1997, more than half of Britons had membership cards. In 2001, Labour introduced the first national standards which led to longer opening hours and internet access. Now the challenge is to tackle falling book prices and government cuts that have eroded library membership.
from: Independent
by: Nina Lakhani and Krunal Dutta
 |
| Kensal Rise library in north-west London is one of the many under threat. (Jason Alden) |
More than 400 libraries from the Isle of Wight to South Wales and Yorkshire face the axe as councils make difficult choices about the future of local services to meet government demands for £6.5bn of savings over two years. The number could double as half of all councils are yet to announce their money-saving plans.
Campaigners, who include Joanna Trollope, Philip Pullman and Tony Christie, are demanding a public inquiry into the cuts which they say amount to an attack on Britain's cultural and knowledge base. They claim Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, could avert expensive local legal challenges by ordering an inquiry into the legality of the planned closures.
Encouraged by David Cameron's Big Society philosophy, councils across the UK say volunteers must replace paid staff if libraries are to be saved. This week the Government will unveil its plan to give communities the right to bid to take over state-run services. But experts say that politicians have failed to understand the social, cultural and educational importance of libraries, and the role librarians play in providing services.
The Labour leader Ed Miliband said yesterday his party would back campaigns to save libraries as "a place where community is built, as families get to know each other and form friendships". A national day of action is planned for 5 February in libraries serving poor and affluent areas, countering claims by a quango leader that libraries are the preserve of the "privileged, mainly white middle classes".
Lib Dem and Tory ministers have privately expressed concern about the threat posed to libraries, but remain anxious to make clear that under the coalition, local decisions are taken without Whitehall interference. Eric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, has warned councils repeatedly against cutting frontline services without first looking for savings elsewhere. "The Government has delivered a tough but fair local government settlement that ensures the most vulnerable communities are protected," a spokesman said.
However, Ed Vaizey, the Tory culture minister, has been singled out for anger because of his high-profile opposition to library closures while in opposition. Critics say Mr Vaizey, who referred to library closures as "cost-driven vandalism" in 2009, has become "impotent" in a department "frozen into inactivity".
Mr Vaizey dismissed these accusations as "wrong" and told The Independent on Sunday that he has been "very active" as libraries minister. He rejected calls for an inquiry into the closures but said every council decision would be checked to ensure statutory obligations were still met. His Future Libraries Programme will report on alternatives ways of providing library services later this year, but this will come too late for many libraries.
Desmond Clarke, former director of Faber & Faber publishers, said: "There is a leadership void at a time of major crisis. We need someone more senior than Ed Vaizey to intervene immediately as the wave of rebellion among people in towns and communities is growing. The impact on local communities will be devastating, the savings relatively small."
Annie Mauger, chief executive of Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip), said: "This is not just about what libraries do, it is about what they represent: free access to knowledge and information for everyone. It feels Orwellian that we'll wake up one day and a third of all the libraries are gone. Is that the type of society we want?"
Across England and Wales, libraries face cuts of 20 to 30 per cent, which means as many as one in five libraries and one in four full-time librarian jobs are at risk, according to Cilip. This comes despite the fact more than 300 million books were borrowed last year. Tens of thousands of people use the internet in libraries every day.
Library users in Oxfordshire, Lewisham, Doncaster, Somerset and Gloucestershire are among those who have sought legal advice about challenging local closures of about 50 per cent, which they say will make it impossible for councils to provide "comprehensive", "efficient" and "improving" library services required under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act. The Local Government Association said councils were being impeded by the "badly outdated" legislation which was drawn up before the arrival of the internet.
Oxfordshire County Council has earmarked 20 out of 43 libraries for closure. It is unlikely to help Oxford's attempt to become Unesco's World City of the Book in 2014. Within the largely affluent county is one of Europe's biggest housing estates, Blackbird Leys, which is in the bottom 10 per cent of areas for educational achievement. Its library is at risk; the main libraries used by Mr Cameron and Mr Vaizey's constituents in Witney and Wantage are safe, although smaller branches are threatened.
In Somerset, 20 out of 34 libraries are under threat, but the council is considering charging membership fees to save some. London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, last week announced plans to establish a trust of volunteers to run the capital's libraries, a third of which are under threat.
A DCMS spokeswoman said: "Legal challenges mounted against local authorities are a matter for the interested parties and the courts and outside the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State... It is premature to consider intervention at such a stage."
What the users say: 'Losing ours would have a big impact'
Marion Pagan, 86, regularly uses Hester's Way Library in Cheltenham. An avid reader, she has been a member for nearly 40 years, and will find it difficult to get to Cheltenham Central library. "They never closed libraries during the war, so it seems drastic now. It would be a big loss to me if it closes. It makes a big difference to me, especially because I'm old, and I would really miss it."
Rose Stephenson, 44, a community development worker in Somerset, has two teenage children who use the library. "The local Martock Library is a three-minute walk away. I would have to drive eight to 10 miles to the next nearest library, which would take much more planning. And the village youth centre, which used to provide facilities and activities for teenagers, is closed, so losing the library would have a big impact."
Isabel Anderson, nine, suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and has been off school for over a year. Her local library in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, has helped her not to fall behind in her school work. She is too tired to travel further away. "I use my library two or three times a week for books, DVDs and story tapes. When I was really ill, libraries provided me with something to do and helped me to keep up with school."
Ruth Corboy, 42, is a mother from Milton Keynes and a regular user of Stony Stratford Library, where members have emptied the shelves in protest. "Our library is one of the few community spaces that mothers still feel safe sending their children. It has been critical to my daughter's education, and she frequently uses it. Visits from authors and teachers provide entertainment and inspiration that supplements their schooling."
Mily Newton, 10, from Blockley in Somerset, who wants to be an author when she grows up, said: "I love to read, so I am very upset about the library cuts. I use the mobile library lots as my mum and dad work, so we don't have time to visit the local library. On the small close where I live there are 18 or more children who always go to the library bus."
A treasured part of British life
Charles Dickens described libraries as a "source of pleasure and improvements in the cottages, the garrets and the ghettos of the poorest of our people", at the opening of Manchester's first public library in 1852. This came two years after the Public Library Act was introduced to "raise educational standards throughout society".
At first, Tory sceptics argued that Britain's wealthier classes should not pay for a service that would predominantly benefit the working class. But donations from wealthy entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie helped to finance hundreds of public libraries. They became a gateway out of social exclusion and a treasured aspect of cultural life.
By 1997, more than half of Britons had membership cards. In 2001, Labour introduced the first national standards which led to longer opening hours and internet access. Now the challenge is to tackle falling book prices and government cuts that have eroded library membership.
from: Independent
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Library emptied in bid to fight closure
by: Ellen Branagh
A town has emptied its library in a bid to fight plans to close it down.
People in Stony Stratford, near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, have spent the week withdrawing their maximum allowance of books in protest against council plans to close it as part of budget cuts.
And today they said the plan had been a success, with all 16,000 books withdrawn from the library.
Today, as they celebrated the empty shelves, Emily Malleson from Friends of Stony Stratford Library (FOSSL) said they were amazed at how everyone in the town had pulled together.
She said it was calculated that books were being checked out at a rate of around 378 per hour - smashing the usual rates.
"A local resident mentioned the idea, maybe as a bit of a joke, but we thought it was a great idea so we put it to FOSSL," she said.
"I went home, put it on Facebook and emailed everyone I could think of and it's just gone absolutely mad."
They planned to start the campaign on Wednesday, but keen supporters of the library started taking books out the week before.
And in just over a week, the shelves were emptied, with the final books withdrawn yesterday.
"People were going in last night to get books and there weren't any left, "she said.
"I think it's a very simple but clever idea and it's given something that people can act on and make their voice heard.
"It shows it's such an important part of the community and well-used by everyone and not just for books - for DVDs, computers, spoken work.
"The amount of support is just staggering."
More than 500 supporters have joined a Facebook page and there is also a written petition and an online petition against the proposed closure.
The planned cuts are part of efforts by Milton Keynes Council to save more than £26 million in 2011/12 with extra cumulative savings of £30 million during the three years from 2012/13.
The final budget is due to be decided by the council on February 22.
from: Independent
A town has emptied its library in a bid to fight plans to close it down.
People in Stony Stratford, near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, have spent the week withdrawing their maximum allowance of books in protest against council plans to close it as part of budget cuts.
And today they said the plan had been a success, with all 16,000 books withdrawn from the library.
Today, as they celebrated the empty shelves, Emily Malleson from Friends of Stony Stratford Library (FOSSL) said they were amazed at how everyone in the town had pulled together.
She said it was calculated that books were being checked out at a rate of around 378 per hour - smashing the usual rates.
"A local resident mentioned the idea, maybe as a bit of a joke, but we thought it was a great idea so we put it to FOSSL," she said.
"I went home, put it on Facebook and emailed everyone I could think of and it's just gone absolutely mad."
They planned to start the campaign on Wednesday, but keen supporters of the library started taking books out the week before.
And in just over a week, the shelves were emptied, with the final books withdrawn yesterday.
"People were going in last night to get books and there weren't any left, "she said.
"I think it's a very simple but clever idea and it's given something that people can act on and make their voice heard.
"It shows it's such an important part of the community and well-used by everyone and not just for books - for DVDs, computers, spoken work.
"The amount of support is just staggering."
More than 500 supporters have joined a Facebook page and there is also a written petition and an online petition against the proposed closure.
The planned cuts are part of efforts by Milton Keynes Council to save more than £26 million in 2011/12 with extra cumulative savings of £30 million during the three years from 2012/13.
The final budget is due to be decided by the council on February 22.
from: Independent
Friday, January 21, 2011
National Book Count numbers are in: Canadians purchase/borrow 2.7 million books
by: Mark Medley
If we learn anything from the inaugural National Book Count, it’s that we’re a country of voracious readers: according to their numbers Canadians bought or borrowed 2,714, 946 books between January 10 and 16.
So how’d they come up with this number?
"Book sales were collected by three book sale aggregators: BookNet Canada, BookManager, and la Société de gestion de la Banque de titres de langue française (BTLF) and book circulation was tracked by the Canadian Urban Libraries Council.
The numbers were collected and combined by the National Reading Campaign and cover 22 public library systems, 80 percent of the English language book retail market and 40 percent of the French language retail market across Canada. No individual consumer information was collected. Online print book sales were captured from major online retailers including Amazon.ca and Indigo.ca. Digital downloads from public libraries were included but not from retailers.
*The Canadian Urban Libraries Council tracked circulation figures for the public libraries in Brampton, Burlington, Burnaby, Calgary, Edmonton, Gatineau, Greater Victoria, Halifax, Hamilton, Kitchener, Markham, Ottawa, Regina, Richmond, Saskatoon, Surrey, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Whitby, and Winnipeg. The circulation figure covers over 11.2 million Canadians."
So what’s the split between buying a book and borrowing one from the library? Pretty close. According to the press release:
"1,110,568 books were sold by retailers including Indigo Books & Music, Amazon.ca and other national chains as well as over 260 independent bookstores across the country. 1,604,378 books were borrowed from 22 participating public library systems.*
2,714, 946 books in seven days means that in a typical week in January, Canadians bought or borrowed as many books as they purchased tickets to the top box office film. In fact, it is likely that more people picked a book than watched a game on Hockey Night in Canada. We do so much to promote film and to encourage youth to play hockey. Do we do as much to advance reading? The NRC believes our nation can do much more."
These numbers are being released on the eve of the second TD National Reading Summit, which begins in Montreal on 20th.
from: National Post
If we learn anything from the inaugural National Book Count, it’s that we’re a country of voracious readers: according to their numbers Canadians bought or borrowed 2,714, 946 books between January 10 and 16.
So how’d they come up with this number?
"Book sales were collected by three book sale aggregators: BookNet Canada, BookManager, and la Société de gestion de la Banque de titres de langue française (BTLF) and book circulation was tracked by the Canadian Urban Libraries Council.
The numbers were collected and combined by the National Reading Campaign and cover 22 public library systems, 80 percent of the English language book retail market and 40 percent of the French language retail market across Canada. No individual consumer information was collected. Online print book sales were captured from major online retailers including Amazon.ca and Indigo.ca. Digital downloads from public libraries were included but not from retailers.
*The Canadian Urban Libraries Council tracked circulation figures for the public libraries in Brampton, Burlington, Burnaby, Calgary, Edmonton, Gatineau, Greater Victoria, Halifax, Hamilton, Kitchener, Markham, Ottawa, Regina, Richmond, Saskatoon, Surrey, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Whitby, and Winnipeg. The circulation figure covers over 11.2 million Canadians."
So what’s the split between buying a book and borrowing one from the library? Pretty close. According to the press release:
"1,110,568 books were sold by retailers including Indigo Books & Music, Amazon.ca and other national chains as well as over 260 independent bookstores across the country. 1,604,378 books were borrowed from 22 participating public library systems.*
2,714, 946 books in seven days means that in a typical week in January, Canadians bought or borrowed as many books as they purchased tickets to the top box office film. In fact, it is likely that more people picked a book than watched a game on Hockey Night in Canada. We do so much to promote film and to encourage youth to play hockey. Do we do as much to advance reading? The NRC believes our nation can do much more."
These numbers are being released on the eve of the second TD National Reading Summit, which begins in Montreal on 20th.
from: National Post
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Back to the Future: in Brazil, Door-to-Door Book Sales are Booming
by: Ricardo Costa and Maria Fernanda
Imagine a single country spreading across 50% of South America. A country with 27 states where there are 190 million people living in different conditions. Some of them are very poor while others are far too rich. This is Brazil. And a nation with such enormous magnitude offers serious opportunities -– the book business continues to grow year-on-year in Brazil –- but also equally daunting challenges. Primary among these is book distribution.
Brazil has 5,565 cities -– and a mere 3,000 bookstores. Calculated by population, there is roughly one bookstore store for every 64,255 people. Most of the bookstores are concentrated in the hands of big industrial groups or families, many of which are located in the largest, most developed areas. Independent stores are few and far between. The southeast of the country is the most developed area and contains more 56% of all bookshops. The north, amongst the poorest regions, accounts for just 3% of the total.
Recent research shows that Brazilians read 4.7 books per year, and if you exclude books read at school, this number drops to a mere 1.3 books per year. The consequence is, that as people demonstrate a lack of interest in books, booksellers are not terribly motivated to open shops outside the highly developed south and southeast regions of the country.
But it’s impossible to know what is responsible for this low number, especially outside major urban areas. Is it a genuine lack of interest in reading? Or, merely the difficulty in acquiring books where there are no bookstores?
If the growth in door-to-door sales is any indication, there is demonstrable hunger for books in areas not served by stores. In fact, door-to-door is proving to be an important distribution strategy for publishers. In 2006, door-to-door represented 5% of all sales. In 2008, the number was grew to 13%; by 2009, the segment was close to 17% of the market. All this time, bookshops have not lost any market share, suggesting that the business is growing across all segments –- with door-to-door growing perhaps strongest of all.
According to the Brazilian Association of Door-to-Door Booksellers (Associação Brasileira de Difusão do Livro – ABDL), there are 30,000 door-to-door booksellers in Brazil and some 32 publishers specialized in catering to this particular market. The association calculates that publishers netted approximately R$668 million in 2009 ($297 million), representing an jump in sales of 74% compared to 2008. In 2010, door-to-door sales were estimated estimated at R$ 1 billion ($590 million), a 80% boost, and accounted for more than 23.8 million books sold (out of a total of 386 million total book sold in the country).
Among the most influential of all door-to-door booksellers is the international cosmetics company Avon, which has an extensive network of sales reps and has become an important partner for publishers. Numerous publishers develop exclusive, and often inexpensive editions, for Avon’s catalogue. Being chosen for Avon’s catalog is also highly attractive to authors, as it offers significant exposure and sales –- it’s not unlike being picked for Oprah’s Book Club in the US.
As Brazil’s economy grows, it is increasingly likely the bookstores will begin venturing into more and more remote cities. Until then, those without access to book will rely on the door-to-door sellers to reach them -– thus helping to increase literacy -– which in turn increases demand. In this way, door-to-door becomes a virtuous circle that is likely leading to a better future for Brazilian readers, publishers and bookseller alike.
from: Publishing Perspectives
Imagine a single country spreading across 50% of South America. A country with 27 states where there are 190 million people living in different conditions. Some of them are very poor while others are far too rich. This is Brazil. And a nation with such enormous magnitude offers serious opportunities -– the book business continues to grow year-on-year in Brazil –- but also equally daunting challenges. Primary among these is book distribution.
Brazil has 5,565 cities -– and a mere 3,000 bookstores. Calculated by population, there is roughly one bookstore store for every 64,255 people. Most of the bookstores are concentrated in the hands of big industrial groups or families, many of which are located in the largest, most developed areas. Independent stores are few and far between. The southeast of the country is the most developed area and contains more 56% of all bookshops. The north, amongst the poorest regions, accounts for just 3% of the total.
Recent research shows that Brazilians read 4.7 books per year, and if you exclude books read at school, this number drops to a mere 1.3 books per year. The consequence is, that as people demonstrate a lack of interest in books, booksellers are not terribly motivated to open shops outside the highly developed south and southeast regions of the country.
But it’s impossible to know what is responsible for this low number, especially outside major urban areas. Is it a genuine lack of interest in reading? Or, merely the difficulty in acquiring books where there are no bookstores?
If the growth in door-to-door sales is any indication, there is demonstrable hunger for books in areas not served by stores. In fact, door-to-door is proving to be an important distribution strategy for publishers. In 2006, door-to-door represented 5% of all sales. In 2008, the number was grew to 13%; by 2009, the segment was close to 17% of the market. All this time, bookshops have not lost any market share, suggesting that the business is growing across all segments –- with door-to-door growing perhaps strongest of all.
According to the Brazilian Association of Door-to-Door Booksellers (Associação Brasileira de Difusão do Livro – ABDL), there are 30,000 door-to-door booksellers in Brazil and some 32 publishers specialized in catering to this particular market. The association calculates that publishers netted approximately R$668 million in 2009 ($297 million), representing an jump in sales of 74% compared to 2008. In 2010, door-to-door sales were estimated estimated at R$ 1 billion ($590 million), a 80% boost, and accounted for more than 23.8 million books sold (out of a total of 386 million total book sold in the country).
Among the most influential of all door-to-door booksellers is the international cosmetics company Avon, which has an extensive network of sales reps and has become an important partner for publishers. Numerous publishers develop exclusive, and often inexpensive editions, for Avon’s catalogue. Being chosen for Avon’s catalog is also highly attractive to authors, as it offers significant exposure and sales –- it’s not unlike being picked for Oprah’s Book Club in the US.
As Brazil’s economy grows, it is increasingly likely the bookstores will begin venturing into more and more remote cities. Until then, those without access to book will rely on the door-to-door sellers to reach them -– thus helping to increase literacy -– which in turn increases demand. In this way, door-to-door becomes a virtuous circle that is likely leading to a better future for Brazilian readers, publishers and bookseller alike.
from: Publishing Perspectives
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
'Unhygenic' course books scuttle Turkish ministry's project
Parents have objected to the distribution of free secondhand books as part of an expensive government project due to sanitary concerns, Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu has said.
“The course books distributed within the scope of the Free Class Books Project cannot be used, as the schools lack the infrastructure to control and protect the books. As the parents do not find the used books hygienic, giving a group of students new books and others used books does not serve our educational needs,” Çubukçu said.
The minister said the project, which has been running for eight years and has cost 2 billion Turkish Liras, hindered competition and was not cost-efficient in the long term. She also said the government forbade the use of supplementary course books.
“We announced the ban on the use of supplementary course books in a letter; they were creating an additional financial burden for the students,” Çubukçu said.
The minister said parents could notify the ministry if they were directed to purchase expensive supplementary course books, adding that the ministry would enforce the policy.
The Education Ministry made a contract with a private sector company in 2003 to prepare the course books as part of the distribution project.
from: Hurriyet Daily News
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
New comic hero makes headlines
by: Oliver Good
Holy bust-up Batman! The Caped Crusader has found himself on the receiving end of a dastardly attack. The assailant? Not the evil Penguin nor even the maniacal Joker. This time, the hero of Gotham City has ignited the fury of a far more villainous foe ... the US conservative blogging network.
His perceived wrong-doing? Recruiting a Muslim to run his crime-fighting operation in Paris.
The controversy surrounds the new superhero, Nightrunner, who appeared in DC Comics' Batman Annual 2011 last month. "Real" name Bilal Asselah, he is an Algerian immigrant, adept at the gymnastic sport parkour and a resident of Clichy-sous-Bois, the crime-ridden area east of Paris, which was the epicentre of the country's 2005 riots.
A recent storyline has seen the Dark Knight scouring the world for similarly minded vigilantes, including members in Argentina, the UK and Japan - all united under the Batman Incorporated banner.
But the furious blustering of a few US conservatives was quickly drowned out by more moderate online commenters supporting DC's decision to give Batman a Muslim counterpart and condemning the blog posts as "racist".
"For comics fans it is a non-issue," says Rich Johnston, the editor of the comics website Bleeding Cool. "He's not even the first Muslim superhero; you've had them in the X-Men for example. It's just something these bloggers haven't noticed before."
Nightrunner-gate is just the latest controversy that has seen the contents of contemporary comic-books targeted by right-wingers. Marvel Comics' Captain America #602, released in January 2010, was accused of containing a jab at the Tea Party movement. It saw the story's heroes stumble across an anti-tax rally in the 1950s. During the protest, Captain America's black counterpart, The Falcon, jokes that he would probably be unwelcome in a crowd of "angry white folks".
Last month, the white supremacist group the Council of Conservative Citizens called for a boycott of the forthcoming superhero movie Thor, based on the Marvel character, on the grounds that a black actor, Idris Elba, had been cast in the role of a Norse god. Elba - who stars in the HBO television series The Wire - will play Heimdall in the Kenneth Branagh-directed film.
Muslim superheroes also hit the headlines in the US last year with the US president (and loyal comics fan) Barack Obama's endorsement of The 99 - about a band of crime-fighters whose individual powers are based on the 99 names of Allah. The president praised the work of the comic's creator, the Kuwaiti psychologist Naif al-Mustawa, and said the characters "embody the teachings of the tolerance of Islam".
However, the New York Post criticised the animated version of the comic, which was set to air on the children's channel The Hub, and urged the network to "cancel The 99 before it starts".
But in Nightrunner's case, the controversy created by those desperate to see him hang up his cape could in fact help the character to become one of DC's regular stable of heroes.
"A publisher who wants to sell lots of copies would probably try to piggyback off all this publicity," says Johnston.
Here's hoping we see plenty more of him.
from: The National
 |
| Nightrunner is a new DC Comics hero who is Muslim. Courtesy DC Comics |
His perceived wrong-doing? Recruiting a Muslim to run his crime-fighting operation in Paris.
The controversy surrounds the new superhero, Nightrunner, who appeared in DC Comics' Batman Annual 2011 last month. "Real" name Bilal Asselah, he is an Algerian immigrant, adept at the gymnastic sport parkour and a resident of Clichy-sous-Bois, the crime-ridden area east of Paris, which was the epicentre of the country's 2005 riots.
A recent storyline has seen the Dark Knight scouring the world for similarly minded vigilantes, including members in Argentina, the UK and Japan - all united under the Batman Incorporated banner.
But the furious blustering of a few US conservatives was quickly drowned out by more moderate online commenters supporting DC's decision to give Batman a Muslim counterpart and condemning the blog posts as "racist".
"For comics fans it is a non-issue," says Rich Johnston, the editor of the comics website Bleeding Cool. "He's not even the first Muslim superhero; you've had them in the X-Men for example. It's just something these bloggers haven't noticed before."
Nightrunner-gate is just the latest controversy that has seen the contents of contemporary comic-books targeted by right-wingers. Marvel Comics' Captain America #602, released in January 2010, was accused of containing a jab at the Tea Party movement. It saw the story's heroes stumble across an anti-tax rally in the 1950s. During the protest, Captain America's black counterpart, The Falcon, jokes that he would probably be unwelcome in a crowd of "angry white folks".
Last month, the white supremacist group the Council of Conservative Citizens called for a boycott of the forthcoming superhero movie Thor, based on the Marvel character, on the grounds that a black actor, Idris Elba, had been cast in the role of a Norse god. Elba - who stars in the HBO television series The Wire - will play Heimdall in the Kenneth Branagh-directed film.
Muslim superheroes also hit the headlines in the US last year with the US president (and loyal comics fan) Barack Obama's endorsement of The 99 - about a band of crime-fighters whose individual powers are based on the 99 names of Allah. The president praised the work of the comic's creator, the Kuwaiti psychologist Naif al-Mustawa, and said the characters "embody the teachings of the tolerance of Islam".
However, the New York Post criticised the animated version of the comic, which was set to air on the children's channel The Hub, and urged the network to "cancel The 99 before it starts".
But in Nightrunner's case, the controversy created by those desperate to see him hang up his cape could in fact help the character to become one of DC's regular stable of heroes.
"A publisher who wants to sell lots of copies would probably try to piggyback off all this publicity," says Johnston.
Here's hoping we see plenty more of him.
from: The National
Monday, January 17, 2011
Penguin launches the 'first UK book app for babies'
Penguin has released one of the first book apps designed for babies as young as three months old, which will help enhance children’s hearing, visual and motor skills. by: Emma Barnett
The ‘Baby Touch Peekaboo App’ goes live in the Apple app store today and brings to life the popular Ladybird series of books on the touch screen.
The app has been specifically designed for and tested on babies as young as three months so they are able to easily interact with the story on a touch screen device.
Simple taps of the screen make different characters appear, in lots of bold colours with sound effects.
Anna Rafferty, managing director of Penguin Digital, said: “We are not aware of any other apps designed specifically for babies. The Baby Touch series of books has been extremely popular since its launch in 2005 and we thought it was a good story to turn into an app…. We have designed the app in such a way that it helps develop a baby’s eye tracking skills, hearing ability and motor and touch skills.”
She said that the target age was from three to 12 months old and that babies as young as six months old would be able to operate the app without their parent’s help. The app also features an auto play tool – which allows parent to play the entire content of the app as a movie.
Rafferty said electronic devices allowed babies and children to have a new tactile experience with books. “The Baby Touch physical books have different materials in them such as mirror surfaces and velvets which give a baby new sensations. Touch screen devices offer a different experience of touch which allows a child to understand the cause and effect of touch. I think both are complementary experiences.”
Parents who own either an iPhone, iPod touch or an iPad, will be able to download the app from today for the launch price of £1.79.
from: Telegraph
The ‘Baby Touch Peekaboo App’ goes live in the Apple app store today and brings to life the popular Ladybird series of books on the touch screen.
The app has been specifically designed for and tested on babies as young as three months so they are able to easily interact with the story on a touch screen device.
Simple taps of the screen make different characters appear, in lots of bold colours with sound effects.
Anna Rafferty, managing director of Penguin Digital, said: “We are not aware of any other apps designed specifically for babies. The Baby Touch series of books has been extremely popular since its launch in 2005 and we thought it was a good story to turn into an app…. We have designed the app in such a way that it helps develop a baby’s eye tracking skills, hearing ability and motor and touch skills.”
She said that the target age was from three to 12 months old and that babies as young as six months old would be able to operate the app without their parent’s help. The app also features an auto play tool – which allows parent to play the entire content of the app as a movie.
Rafferty said electronic devices allowed babies and children to have a new tactile experience with books. “The Baby Touch physical books have different materials in them such as mirror surfaces and velvets which give a baby new sensations. Touch screen devices offer a different experience of touch which allows a child to understand the cause and effect of touch. I think both are complementary experiences.”
Parents who own either an iPhone, iPod touch or an iPad, will be able to download the app from today for the launch price of £1.79.
from: Telegraph
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Playing Catch-Up in a Digital Library Race
by: Natasha Singer
AMERICA stood at the forefront of the public library movement in 1731, when Benjamin Franklin founded the Library Company of Philadelphia, our first successful lending library.
Looking back on the project decades later, Franklin wrote in his autobiography that the growth of lending libraries had played a role not only in educating but also in democratizing American society.
“These Libraries,” he wrote, “have improv’d the general Conversation of the Americans, made the common Tradesmen & Farmers as intelligent as most Gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed to some degree to the Stand so generally made throughout the Colonies in Defence of their Privileges.”
Lending libraries may have been the newfangled democratizing factor of their day. Centuries later, though, the United States finds itself trailing Europe and Japan in creating the modern equivalent: a national digital library that would serve as an electronic repository for the nation’s cultural heritage.
In other words, there’s a real digital library divide.
In contrast to the United States, the National Library of Norway has been a global early adopter. In 2005, it announced a goal of digitizing its entire collection; by now it has scanned some 170,000 books, 250,000 newspapers, 610,000 hours of radio broadcasts, 200,000 hours of TV and 500,000 photographs. And, last year, the National Library of the Netherlandssaid it planned to scan all Dutch books, newspapers and periodicals from 1470 onward.
The libraries of the nearly 50 member states in the Council of Europe, meanwhile, have banded together in a single search engine, theeuropeanlibrary.org. And the European Commission has sponsored Europeana, a portal for digital copies of art, music film and books held by the cultural institutions of member countries. It currently contains scans of about 15 million artifacts.
Until recently, however, many American institutions and academic centers have concentrated on making scans of their own special treasures, or collaborating with one another on themed projects, rather than combining their electronic resources into a single online access point.
A national digital library is clearly a bigger challenge for the United States, with its vast and disparate library holdings, than for European countries with smaller populations and land masses. But the Library of Congress was already working on the effort in the 1990s when it created a digital collection called “American Memory”; it contains scans of 16 million books, maps, movies, manuscripts and pieces of music.
Even so, the library still has more than 100 million other artifacts that are not yet scanned, says James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress. And even though the American Memory project also carries the name “national digital library,” it is not formally connected, for example, to many of the country’s public libraries.
“There’s tremendous local activity and national collaboration around specific topics,” says David S. Ferriero, the archivist of the United States. “But there has been no national coordination of all the wonderful disparate projects around the country.”
Some of those individual efforts, however, are now beginning to dovetail.
Last month, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard said it would coordinate a planning program for public and private groups interested in creating a “digital public library of America.”
The idea, says Robert Darnton, the director of the Harvard University Library and one of the project’s originators, is to link the electronic resources of participating university libraries and cultural institutions like the Library of Congress and make them accessible through a single portal. The hope is to create “a gigantic digital library that would make the cultural heritage of the country available to everyone,” he says.
The project would also widen the audience for the kind of historical out-of-print books, manuscripts, letters, images, films and audio clips that have typically been the province of scholars.
Of course, practical matters — like cost, copyright issues and technology — would need to be resolved first.
“The crucial question in many ways is, ‘How do you find a common technical infrastructure that yields interoperability for the scholar, the casual inquirer or the K-12 student?’” Dr. Billington says.
The idea for an American digital public library was prompted in part by the work of Google. In 2004, the company started a digitization project, Google Books, that has since scanned more than 15 million books. Many of these are out-of-print books lent by institutions like Harvard, Cornell and the University of Michigan. “Google came along and woke everyone up and showed the world what could be done in a short period of time,” says Maura Marx, a fellow at the Berkman Center.
People can read out-of-print items at no cost on Google Books, if those works are no longer subject to copyright protection. But if a judge approves a settlement between Google and copyright holders, subscription fees to access scans of out-of-print books still covered by copyright will have to be paid by universities and other institutions.
An American digital public library would serve as a nonprofit institutional alternative to Google Books, Professor Darnton says.
“There’s a conflict between the raison d’être of Google, which is to make money for its shareholders,” he says, “and libraries whose goal is to make books available to readers.”
But such a digital public library would have a better chance of success, he says, if it included out-of-copyright books owned by member libraries that Google had digitized.
That is already happening in Europe, where the national libraries of the Netherlands and Austria have signed agreements with Google in which their sites can host digital copies of out-of-copyright books in their own holdings that have been scanned by the company. The libraries also have the right to make those scans available on public educational sites like Europeana.
A SPOKESWOMAN for Google says the company would be happy to participate in the proposed American project.
“Making the world’s books accessible online is something that requires public and private initiatives,” says Annabella Weisl, a Google Book Search executive in Germany, “and so we welcome new efforts in this direction.”
But Jill Cousins, the executive director of Europeana, says that the great American research libraries could do much more than simply increase access to scans of scholarly material.
“What’s sort of missing is digitization of the accessible literature,” like the popular novels and biographies readers seek at brick-and-mortar public libraries, she says. A few institutions, like the National Library of Norway, are already venturing into this area, via novel arrangements with copyright holders.
“It would be nice to conceive of something bigger that has more to do with the public good than with the academic side of the equation,” Ms. Cousins says.
from: NY Times
AMERICA stood at the forefront of the public library movement in 1731, when Benjamin Franklin founded the Library Company of Philadelphia, our first successful lending library.
Looking back on the project decades later, Franklin wrote in his autobiography that the growth of lending libraries had played a role not only in educating but also in democratizing American society.
“These Libraries,” he wrote, “have improv’d the general Conversation of the Americans, made the common Tradesmen & Farmers as intelligent as most Gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed to some degree to the Stand so generally made throughout the Colonies in Defence of their Privileges.”
Lending libraries may have been the newfangled democratizing factor of their day. Centuries later, though, the United States finds itself trailing Europe and Japan in creating the modern equivalent: a national digital library that would serve as an electronic repository for the nation’s cultural heritage.
In other words, there’s a real digital library divide.
In contrast to the United States, the National Library of Norway has been a global early adopter. In 2005, it announced a goal of digitizing its entire collection; by now it has scanned some 170,000 books, 250,000 newspapers, 610,000 hours of radio broadcasts, 200,000 hours of TV and 500,000 photographs. And, last year, the National Library of the Netherlandssaid it planned to scan all Dutch books, newspapers and periodicals from 1470 onward.
The libraries of the nearly 50 member states in the Council of Europe, meanwhile, have banded together in a single search engine, theeuropeanlibrary.org. And the European Commission has sponsored Europeana, a portal for digital copies of art, music film and books held by the cultural institutions of member countries. It currently contains scans of about 15 million artifacts.
Until recently, however, many American institutions and academic centers have concentrated on making scans of their own special treasures, or collaborating with one another on themed projects, rather than combining their electronic resources into a single online access point.
A national digital library is clearly a bigger challenge for the United States, with its vast and disparate library holdings, than for European countries with smaller populations and land masses. But the Library of Congress was already working on the effort in the 1990s when it created a digital collection called “American Memory”; it contains scans of 16 million books, maps, movies, manuscripts and pieces of music.
Even so, the library still has more than 100 million other artifacts that are not yet scanned, says James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress. And even though the American Memory project also carries the name “national digital library,” it is not formally connected, for example, to many of the country’s public libraries.
“There’s tremendous local activity and national collaboration around specific topics,” says David S. Ferriero, the archivist of the United States. “But there has been no national coordination of all the wonderful disparate projects around the country.”
Some of those individual efforts, however, are now beginning to dovetail.
Last month, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard said it would coordinate a planning program for public and private groups interested in creating a “digital public library of America.”
The idea, says Robert Darnton, the director of the Harvard University Library and one of the project’s originators, is to link the electronic resources of participating university libraries and cultural institutions like the Library of Congress and make them accessible through a single portal. The hope is to create “a gigantic digital library that would make the cultural heritage of the country available to everyone,” he says.
The project would also widen the audience for the kind of historical out-of-print books, manuscripts, letters, images, films and audio clips that have typically been the province of scholars.
Of course, practical matters — like cost, copyright issues and technology — would need to be resolved first.
“The crucial question in many ways is, ‘How do you find a common technical infrastructure that yields interoperability for the scholar, the casual inquirer or the K-12 student?’” Dr. Billington says.
The idea for an American digital public library was prompted in part by the work of Google. In 2004, the company started a digitization project, Google Books, that has since scanned more than 15 million books. Many of these are out-of-print books lent by institutions like Harvard, Cornell and the University of Michigan. “Google came along and woke everyone up and showed the world what could be done in a short period of time,” says Maura Marx, a fellow at the Berkman Center.
People can read out-of-print items at no cost on Google Books, if those works are no longer subject to copyright protection. But if a judge approves a settlement between Google and copyright holders, subscription fees to access scans of out-of-print books still covered by copyright will have to be paid by universities and other institutions.
An American digital public library would serve as a nonprofit institutional alternative to Google Books, Professor Darnton says.
“There’s a conflict between the raison d’être of Google, which is to make money for its shareholders,” he says, “and libraries whose goal is to make books available to readers.”
But such a digital public library would have a better chance of success, he says, if it included out-of-copyright books owned by member libraries that Google had digitized.
That is already happening in Europe, where the national libraries of the Netherlands and Austria have signed agreements with Google in which their sites can host digital copies of out-of-copyright books in their own holdings that have been scanned by the company. The libraries also have the right to make those scans available on public educational sites like Europeana.
A SPOKESWOMAN for Google says the company would be happy to participate in the proposed American project.
“Making the world’s books accessible online is something that requires public and private initiatives,” says Annabella Weisl, a Google Book Search executive in Germany, “and so we welcome new efforts in this direction.”
But Jill Cousins, the executive director of Europeana, says that the great American research libraries could do much more than simply increase access to scans of scholarly material.
“What’s sort of missing is digitization of the accessible literature,” like the popular novels and biographies readers seek at brick-and-mortar public libraries, she says. A few institutions, like the National Library of Norway, are already venturing into this area, via novel arrangements with copyright holders.
“It would be nice to conceive of something bigger that has more to do with the public good than with the academic side of the equation,” Ms. Cousins says.
from: NY Times
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Publishing industry may be headed for another e-jolt
by: Vito Pilieci, Postmedia News
A device coming from a Rhode Island company this spring promises to shake the publishing industry in the same way CD burners shook the music industry and forever changed copyright laws in the early 1990s.
ION Audio’s Book Saver looks like a miniature overhead projector combined with a cradle and can scan a 200-page novel in less than 15 minutes.
“We guess that this is going to be the same debate they had in music: could you record a CD to digital?” said Nic Boshart, digital services manager with the Association of Canadian Publishers.
Boshart said he doesn’t expect the device to have an immediate impact on book sales because users will still have to flip pages manually. “I don’t see how it’s any different from a scanner.”
But Sydneyeve Matrix, a media professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., predicts demand for the Book Saver and similar devices will skyrocket among groups such as students, who have long complained about textbook prices.
“From a user’s point of view, flipping pages is still a pain. But, there is every incentive for students and consumers to have one person go through the labour and then share this digital copy,” she said. “That’s where the copyright concerns come in really quickly. “
The Book Saver, expected to sell for $150 US, is capable of scanning pages more than seven-times faster than anything available today, its maker says. It creates files that can be transferred to an e-book reader, such as a Kindle or an iPad.
“ION continues to lead the way in smart, intuitive conversion products,” Gregg Stein, managing director at ION, said in a release. “Book Saver is the only device needed to quickly make all your books, comics, magazines or other documents e-reader-compatible.”
ION makes a range of products to help consumers convert old media, such as records and CDs into digital files that can be played on a computer or iPod.
The Book Saver device, which had its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, arrives as Canada is once again trying to amend outdated copyright legislation to better address the digital era.
The Canadian Copyright Act has not been updated since 1997, two years before Napster forever changed the way people obtain music and movies online. An attempt to update the act in 2005 was abandoned. Another attempt was made in June 2008, but the federal election that year stalled the amendments.
A new attempt to update the legislation, led by the Conservative government and introduced in June, is still working its way through Parliament.
A key question in the current round of talks is whether consumers have any right to make personal copies of DVDs, e-books and video games for personal use.
Carolyn Wood, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers, said the new Book Saver device is sure to open new copyright concerns for her members.
“It does raise questions,” she said. “The whole business about what it means to own a book when it’s in digital form is not the same as when in it’s in print form. I am interested in this.”
from: National Post
A device coming from a Rhode Island company this spring promises to shake the publishing industry in the same way CD burners shook the music industry and forever changed copyright laws in the early 1990s.
ION Audio’s Book Saver looks like a miniature overhead projector combined with a cradle and can scan a 200-page novel in less than 15 minutes.
“We guess that this is going to be the same debate they had in music: could you record a CD to digital?” said Nic Boshart, digital services manager with the Association of Canadian Publishers.
Boshart said he doesn’t expect the device to have an immediate impact on book sales because users will still have to flip pages manually. “I don’t see how it’s any different from a scanner.”
But Sydneyeve Matrix, a media professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., predicts demand for the Book Saver and similar devices will skyrocket among groups such as students, who have long complained about textbook prices.
“From a user’s point of view, flipping pages is still a pain. But, there is every incentive for students and consumers to have one person go through the labour and then share this digital copy,” she said. “That’s where the copyright concerns come in really quickly. “
The Book Saver, expected to sell for $150 US, is capable of scanning pages more than seven-times faster than anything available today, its maker says. It creates files that can be transferred to an e-book reader, such as a Kindle or an iPad.
“ION continues to lead the way in smart, intuitive conversion products,” Gregg Stein, managing director at ION, said in a release. “Book Saver is the only device needed to quickly make all your books, comics, magazines or other documents e-reader-compatible.”
ION makes a range of products to help consumers convert old media, such as records and CDs into digital files that can be played on a computer or iPod.
The Book Saver device, which had its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, arrives as Canada is once again trying to amend outdated copyright legislation to better address the digital era.
The Canadian Copyright Act has not been updated since 1997, two years before Napster forever changed the way people obtain music and movies online. An attempt to update the act in 2005 was abandoned. Another attempt was made in June 2008, but the federal election that year stalled the amendments.
A new attempt to update the legislation, led by the Conservative government and introduced in June, is still working its way through Parliament.
A key question in the current round of talks is whether consumers have any right to make personal copies of DVDs, e-books and video games for personal use.
Carolyn Wood, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers, said the new Book Saver device is sure to open new copyright concerns for her members.
“It does raise questions,” she said. “The whole business about what it means to own a book when it’s in digital form is not the same as when in it’s in print form. I am interested in this.”
from: National Post
Friday, January 14, 2011
Catcher in the Rye sequel will be published overseas
by: Rebecca Tucker
Two years ago, Swedish author Fredrik Colting came under fire for 60 Years Later, a sequel to J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, which Colting published independently in Europe under the pen name John David California. Before his death, Salinger himself filed a suit against Colting, claiming copyright infringement — the notoriously protective (and reclusive) Salinger had never authorized the adaptation of any of his works, and has been long rumoured to have a massive collection of unpublished writing. The man was secretive. Really secretive, and really protective of his work.
So Thursday’s news — that Colting’s sequel will be published in Europe but is banned from being sold in Canada and the U.S. — smacks as bittersweet. Sure, it’s a small triumph: Salinger was an American author, after all, and the ruling prevents 60 Years Later from seeing light of day on Salinger’s home turf. But the fact that it will be published internationally means that, in many, many places, readers will be able to follow the misadventures of a geriatric Holden Caulfield, on the run from a nursing home. This narrative is meant to follow naturally from Salinger’s portrayal of Holden as a disillusioned youth on the run from the claustrophobia of adulthood — only told by a guy whose previous claims to fame are books called The Pornstar Name Book: The Dirtiest Names On The Planet and The Macho Man’s Drinkbook: Because Nude Girls And Alcohol Go Great Together.
To add insult to injury, Colting’s justification for the sequel is as follows:
“I believe 60 is as original and creative as Catcher … I’ve never had much respect for old things, just for the sake that they are old. Especially if they act as brakes, keeping things from evolving. Creativity has to move freely or it will fall flat on its ass. If it was up to me I would replace Mona Lisa with something new.”
Right. He probably thinks the Lunts are absolute angels, too.
from: National Post
Two years ago, Swedish author Fredrik Colting came under fire for 60 Years Later, a sequel to J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, which Colting published independently in Europe under the pen name John David California. Before his death, Salinger himself filed a suit against Colting, claiming copyright infringement — the notoriously protective (and reclusive) Salinger had never authorized the adaptation of any of his works, and has been long rumoured to have a massive collection of unpublished writing. The man was secretive. Really secretive, and really protective of his work.
So Thursday’s news — that Colting’s sequel will be published in Europe but is banned from being sold in Canada and the U.S. — smacks as bittersweet. Sure, it’s a small triumph: Salinger was an American author, after all, and the ruling prevents 60 Years Later from seeing light of day on Salinger’s home turf. But the fact that it will be published internationally means that, in many, many places, readers will be able to follow the misadventures of a geriatric Holden Caulfield, on the run from a nursing home. This narrative is meant to follow naturally from Salinger’s portrayal of Holden as a disillusioned youth on the run from the claustrophobia of adulthood — only told by a guy whose previous claims to fame are books called The Pornstar Name Book: The Dirtiest Names On The Planet and The Macho Man’s Drinkbook: Because Nude Girls And Alcohol Go Great Together.
To add insult to injury, Colting’s justification for the sequel is as follows:
“I believe 60 is as original and creative as Catcher … I’ve never had much respect for old things, just for the sake that they are old. Especially if they act as brakes, keeping things from evolving. Creativity has to move freely or it will fall flat on its ass. If it was up to me I would replace Mona Lisa with something new.”
Right. He probably thinks the Lunts are absolute angels, too.
from: National Post
Thursday, January 13, 2011
National book count aims to show that books count
by: John Allemang
Hockey teams and Hollywood moviemakers measure success by head counts and ticket sales. So if you’re trying to prove that books still matter in an increasingly post-print society, then maybe you have to join the ratings game.
Which is why, when Canadians buy and check out their books this week, the numbers will be counted as part of a campaign to turn the solitary act of reading into a more public display of solidarity for books and the bookish.
“We want to see if books are important in Canada,” said Groundwood Books publisher Patsy Aldana, co-chair of next week’s TD Reading Summit in Montreal, where the results of the tally will be used to help create and define a national reading strategy.
Canadians view themselves as readers, relatively speaking – only 13 per cent say they’re non-readers versus 43 per cent of Americans. But that level of professed participation doesn’t cut it with reading activists, who see both the pleasure and the social usefulness of books being downgraded in favour of low-fun literacy campaigns and textbook-guided teaching systems designed to conquer standardized tests.
“Schoolbooks now are deadly dull,” Ms. Aldana said. “They’re like modern Dick-and-Jane books, structured to get scores up and guaranteed to turn children off reading.”
About half of Canadians have inadequate literacy skills, said Craig Alexander, TD’s chief economist. “If we could increase the national literary scores by 1 per cent,” he calculates, “we could boost the national income by $32-billion.”
But even the commendable desire to improve literacy levels, said Annie Kidder of People for Education, “has become too much about the mechanics and not enough about understanding the joy of reading and what it does to help you understand yourself and your culture, connect to other people and participate in democracy.”
That’s asking a lot from a book, and perhaps not all kinds of reading are up to the challenge – the National Reading Campaign that’s running the reading summit doesn’t have much to say about the Web, where many of those professed Canadian readers allow words to pass before their eyes.
But while books suffer from an outdated, impractical, elitist image, recent work in cognitive science is prompting a re-evaluation of reading’s value and power.
“A lot of the research on reading has dealt with how it improves vocabulary and verbal ability,” said Raymond Mar, a psychology professor at York University. “But now we’re starting to see how it might help make us better moral citizens.”
Prof. Mar studies how a reader immersed in literary fiction displays keener empathy skills and scores higher on social-ability tests in which decoding non-verbal cues is proof of an agile mind. He cites research on small children who’ve reached the stage where they begin to understand how other people have different mental states from their own.
“The more storybooks they had was a predictor of how they did in understanding,” he said.
That makes sense to anyone who has had the experience of being completely lost in a good book. But for those who require scientific backup, Prof. Mar points to neuroimagery studies that show how some parts of the brain process both the reading of fiction and the understanding of how other people think and feel.
So when you check out that Giller Prize novel this week, don’t think of yourself as just a bookworm: You’re actually playing a part in page-turning’s greater good.
from: Globe and Mail
Hockey teams and Hollywood moviemakers measure success by head counts and ticket sales. So if you’re trying to prove that books still matter in an increasingly post-print society, then maybe you have to join the ratings game.
Which is why, when Canadians buy and check out their books this week, the numbers will be counted as part of a campaign to turn the solitary act of reading into a more public display of solidarity for books and the bookish.
“We want to see if books are important in Canada,” said Groundwood Books publisher Patsy Aldana, co-chair of next week’s TD Reading Summit in Montreal, where the results of the tally will be used to help create and define a national reading strategy.
Canadians view themselves as readers, relatively speaking – only 13 per cent say they’re non-readers versus 43 per cent of Americans. But that level of professed participation doesn’t cut it with reading activists, who see both the pleasure and the social usefulness of books being downgraded in favour of low-fun literacy campaigns and textbook-guided teaching systems designed to conquer standardized tests.
“Schoolbooks now are deadly dull,” Ms. Aldana said. “They’re like modern Dick-and-Jane books, structured to get scores up and guaranteed to turn children off reading.”
About half of Canadians have inadequate literacy skills, said Craig Alexander, TD’s chief economist. “If we could increase the national literary scores by 1 per cent,” he calculates, “we could boost the national income by $32-billion.”
But even the commendable desire to improve literacy levels, said Annie Kidder of People for Education, “has become too much about the mechanics and not enough about understanding the joy of reading and what it does to help you understand yourself and your culture, connect to other people and participate in democracy.”
That’s asking a lot from a book, and perhaps not all kinds of reading are up to the challenge – the National Reading Campaign that’s running the reading summit doesn’t have much to say about the Web, where many of those professed Canadian readers allow words to pass before their eyes.
But while books suffer from an outdated, impractical, elitist image, recent work in cognitive science is prompting a re-evaluation of reading’s value and power.
“A lot of the research on reading has dealt with how it improves vocabulary and verbal ability,” said Raymond Mar, a psychology professor at York University. “But now we’re starting to see how it might help make us better moral citizens.”
Prof. Mar studies how a reader immersed in literary fiction displays keener empathy skills and scores higher on social-ability tests in which decoding non-verbal cues is proof of an agile mind. He cites research on small children who’ve reached the stage where they begin to understand how other people have different mental states from their own.
“The more storybooks they had was a predictor of how they did in understanding,” he said.
That makes sense to anyone who has had the experience of being completely lost in a good book. But for those who require scientific backup, Prof. Mar points to neuroimagery studies that show how some parts of the brain process both the reading of fiction and the understanding of how other people think and feel.
So when you check out that Giller Prize novel this week, don’t think of yourself as just a bookworm: You’re actually playing a part in page-turning’s greater good.
from: Globe and Mail
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Ideas we like: keeping books out of landfills
by: Elizabeth Minkel
You might be a top-notch recycler, but I’m willing to bet that you’ve never tried to recycle a book. Maybe you’re like me: my reluctance to part with books, even those I despised upon first reading, is strong enough to land me on one of those hoarding television shows. But it’s more likely that you know—or at least have a sneaking suspicion—that you can’t simply toss a few old paperbacks in with your flattened cardboard. Most paper recyclers can’t process the glue that binds books along the spine. Some people donate them, of course, or try to resell them, but so many books wind up in boxes on the curb, and eventually, in landfills. For the really out-of-date or the damaged-beyond-readability, specialized companies like the somewhat aggressively-named Book Destruction will pulp entire books, spine and all, and send the results directly back to the paper mills. But for books with a little shelf life left in them, there may be another solution.
Thrift Recycling Management has been collecting and re-purposing landfill-bound books for years. They scan ISBNs or enter titles into a database, and their computers use an algorithm to determine if the volume is fit to be resold, donated to charity, or consigned to the recycling plant. TRM, which is based in Washington state and is expanding across the country, has just been granted $8.5 million by venture capitalists. That’s great news, because every region deserves a service like this one. There are a million ways to reuse books, of course, but sometimes a cheap paperback (I’m thinking deeply yellowed pages and a spine permanently curled open) might be better off pulped and turned into a brand-new cheap paperback. Well, I suppose it’s a more dignified fate for a book than being turned into a Kindle case, anyway.
(Warehouse Dump, by parkydoodles.)
from: New Yorker
You might be a top-notch recycler, but I’m willing to bet that you’ve never tried to recycle a book. Maybe you’re like me: my reluctance to part with books, even those I despised upon first reading, is strong enough to land me on one of those hoarding television shows. But it’s more likely that you know—or at least have a sneaking suspicion—that you can’t simply toss a few old paperbacks in with your flattened cardboard. Most paper recyclers can’t process the glue that binds books along the spine. Some people donate them, of course, or try to resell them, but so many books wind up in boxes on the curb, and eventually, in landfills. For the really out-of-date or the damaged-beyond-readability, specialized companies like the somewhat aggressively-named Book Destruction will pulp entire books, spine and all, and send the results directly back to the paper mills. But for books with a little shelf life left in them, there may be another solution.
Thrift Recycling Management has been collecting and re-purposing landfill-bound books for years. They scan ISBNs or enter titles into a database, and their computers use an algorithm to determine if the volume is fit to be resold, donated to charity, or consigned to the recycling plant. TRM, which is based in Washington state and is expanding across the country, has just been granted $8.5 million by venture capitalists. That’s great news, because every region deserves a service like this one. There are a million ways to reuse books, of course, but sometimes a cheap paperback (I’m thinking deeply yellowed pages and a spine permanently curled open) might be better off pulped and turned into a brand-new cheap paperback. Well, I suppose it’s a more dignified fate for a book than being turned into a Kindle case, anyway.
(Warehouse Dump, by parkydoodles.)
from: New Yorker
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Clare Vanderpool's Moon Over Manifest wins 2011 Newbery Medal
by: Mark Medley
Clare Vanderpool’s novel Moon Over Manifest, about a young girl living in a hardscrabble Missouri town one summer in 1936, was named the winner of the 2011 Newbery Medal on Monday.
“Vanderpool illustrates the importance of stories as a way for children to understand the past, inform the present and provide hope for the future,” said Newbery Medal Committee Chair Cynthia K. Richey in a statement.
The Newbery Medal is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children. Each year it recognizes “the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”
Other books to be cited by the committee include Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm; Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus; Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, by Joyce Sidman; and One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia.
Past winners of the Newbery Medal, which is named after the 18th-century bookseller, John Newbery, include Madeleine L’Engle for A Wrinkle in Time; Robert C. O’Brien for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH; Katherine Paterson for Bridge to Terabithia; Kate DiCamillo for The Tale of Despereaux; and Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book.
from: National Post
Clare Vanderpool’s novel Moon Over Manifest, about a young girl living in a hardscrabble Missouri town one summer in 1936, was named the winner of the 2011 Newbery Medal on Monday.
“Vanderpool illustrates the importance of stories as a way for children to understand the past, inform the present and provide hope for the future,” said Newbery Medal Committee Chair Cynthia K. Richey in a statement.
The Newbery Medal is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children. Each year it recognizes “the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”
Other books to be cited by the committee include Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm; Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus; Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, by Joyce Sidman; and One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia.
Past winners of the Newbery Medal, which is named after the 18th-century bookseller, John Newbery, include Madeleine L’Engle for A Wrinkle in Time; Robert C. O’Brien for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH; Katherine Paterson for Bridge to Terabithia; Kate DiCamillo for The Tale of Despereaux; and Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book.
from: National Post
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Most Anticipated Books of 2011
by: Mark Medley
When a band is ready to drop a new album, they’ll usually leak a single months in advance, giving their fans a taste of what’s in store. With a movie, a slickly-edited trailer might be released a year in advance, building a deafening amount of buzz. Films have the benefits of cool posters, too. Books, on the other hand, have few options to drum up interest ahead of time. Sure, there’s been the emergence of the book trailer in recent years, but they sometimes do more harm than good. The release of the book’s cover ahead of time might be one way to draw attention, but it’s often difficult to glean much just from that. A book’s synopsis will let us know what the book is about, but won’t tell us if it’s any good. An excerpt is probably the best way to build hype, but with the dwindling numbers of magazines publishing fiction, any sneak peak will reach a limited number of readers.
No, when it comes to new books, it’s all about gut instinct. Does the book sound cool? Did you enjoy the author’s last work? With that in mind, here’s what we’re looking forward to in the first part of 2011:
JANUARY
• While Mortals Sleep by Kurt Vonnegut (Delacorte Press) — Since his death in 2007, three posthumous collections of Vonnegut’s writing have appeared: Armageddon in Retrospect, Look at the Birdie, and now While Mortals Sleep, which collects sixteen unpublished short stories written by a very young Vonnegut. We’ll read anything with Vonnegut’s name on it, though perhaps there’s a reason these remained unpublished during his lifetime. Dave Eggers, who writes the book’s introduction, calls Vonnegut “a hippie Mark Twain.” Far out. January 25.
• The Beggar’s Garden by Michael Christie (HarperCollins Canada) — This skateboarder-turned-scribe releases his buzzed-about debut short story collection. These nine linked stories follow an odd assortment of characters (from crack heads and car thieves to bank managers and mental patients) as they live, work, and love in Vancouver’s infamous Downtown Eastside. A writer to watch. January 25.
• The Quiet Twin by Dan Vyleta (HarperCollins Canada) — Vyleta, a German-born Canadian writer, achieved international acclaim on the strength of his debut novel, Pavel & I. Set in Nazi-occupied Vienna, his follow-up, The Quiet Twin, is about a young forensic psychologist named Anton Beer who is asked to investigate a spate of unsolved murders centered around one apartment building. January 25.
FEBRUARY
• Scenes From An Impending Marriage by Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly) — A new book from renowned cartoonist Adrian Tomine (author of Shortcomings and Summer Blonde) is always a cause for celebration. His latest, though, is a bit different. This cute little volume began life as a gift to everyone who attending his nuptials. The perfect engagement gift. February 1.
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Knopf) — Russell established her name at a very young age with the short story collect St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, which was published in 2006. One of the stories in that collection, Ava Wrestles The Alligator, is the basis for her debut novel, Swamplandia!, about a 13-year-old girl named Ava Bigtree who is left to care for her family’s aging alligator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades after her mother dies and her father disappears. February 1.
• A Widow’s Story by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco) — In the tradition of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, this memoir explores how we cope with loss. In early 2008, her husband of nearly half a century, the noted publisher and editor Ray Smith, passed away unexpectedly. I’ve only read the recent (devastating) excerpt in The New Yorker, but that was enough to place this book near the top of my list. February 15.
• The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton (House of Anansi Press) — The venerable Toronto publisher launches its ambitious Spiderline crime fiction imprint with The Water Rat of Wanchai, the first in a massive new series following the adventures of Ava Lee, a young forensic accountant. In the first installment Ava journeys from Toronto to Hong Kong to the British Virgin Islands in search of a missing $5 million. If you like this, you won’t have to wait long for a sequel: The Disciple of Las Vegas comes out in July. February 19.
• When The Killing’s Done, by T.C. Boyle (Viking) –The ever-prolific American writer T. Coraghessan Boyle returns with this tale of nature-gone-wild on an island off the coast of California. February 22.
MARCH
• The Blue Light Project by Timothy Taylor (Knopf Canada) — Taylor, an award-winning author (Stanley Park; Story House) and journalist delivers his much-anticipated third novel, The Blue Light Project, which combines the stories of a washed-up investigative journalist at the centre of a hostage taking, an Olympic gold medalist, and a reclusive street artist. March 1.
• Mid-Life, by Joe Ollman (Drawn & Quarterly) — This much-anticipated graphic novel tells the story of a middle-aged man who has a child with hiss much-younger wife and the lonely children’s performer he befriends. March 1.
• The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht (Random House) — The story of a young doctor working at a remote orphanage in the Balkans who is investigating the strange circumstances surrounding her grandfather’s recent death intersects with the story of an escaped tiger who terrorizes a village during the Second World War. Obreht was the youngest writer on The New Yorker’s much-publicized “20 Under 40” list of writers to watch, and that was before she’d even published a single book. Does she live up to the hype? March 8.
• Underground, by Antanas Sileika (Thomas Allen) — The director of Toronto’s Humber School for Writers publishes his third novel, about two members of the underground Lithuanian resistance movement during the mid 1940s. March 26
• The Free World by David Bezmozgis (HarperCollins Canada) — Bezmozgis, author of the stellar debut short story collection Natasha and Other Stories, was only one of two Canadian authors (the other being Rivka Galchen) on The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” list. His first novel examines the plight of the Krasnansky family, a brood of Russian Jews, as they attempt to start a new life in Rome after escaping through the Iron Curtain. March 29.
• Folk, by Jacob McArthur Mooney (McClelland & Stewart) — This talented young Canadian poet returns with his sophomore collection, Folk, which is partly about the Swiss Air 11 crash off the coast of Peggy’s Cove in 1998. March 29.
APRIL
• Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuszi Gartner (Hamish Hamilton Canada) — Though she has only published one collection of short stories — 2000’s All The Anxious Girls on Earth — Vancouver’s Zsuzsi Gartner is already one of our foremost practitioners of the form. April 5.
• Methodist Hatchet, by Ken Babstock (House of Anansi) — Babstock, a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2007, releases a much-anticipated new collection. April 9.
• The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown and Company) — Carefully assembled from an unfinished novel by his longtime editor Michael Pietsch, The Pale King is the final, posthumous novel from the post-modern genius. Fittingly, it is about a man named David Foster Wallace who goes to work at the IRS Regional Examination Center in Peoria, Illinois. This is perhaps the year’s most anticipated book. April 15.
• Monoceros, by Suzette Mayr (Coach House Books) — The suicide of a young, gay man reverberates through his high school, affecting the odd assortment of students and teachers that roam within its halls. April 15.
• Beggar’s Feast by Randy Boyagoda (Viking Canada) — This regular National Post contributor follows-up his Giller Prize-nominated debut, Governor of the Northern Province. This multi-generational saga follows a Sri Lankan shipping magnate named Sam Kandy from his small village in turn-of-the-century Ceylon to Australia and Singapore and back again. April 19.
• The Great Night by Chris Adrian (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) — Adrian is perhaps the writer with the most well-rounded education in America (he went to medical school, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and Harvard Divinity School) and a Guggenheim Fellow to boot. He’s also an incredibly talented and moving writer, evident by his two novels (Gob’s Grief and The Children’s Hospital) and one collection of stories (A Better Angel). His newest novel is a retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but set in San Francisco. April 26.
MAY
• The Meagre Tarmac, by Clark Blaise (Biblioasis) — Blaise’s first collection of stories in nearly 20 years explores he lives of several generations of Indo-Americans in post-9/11 America. May 1.
• Dogs at the Perimeter, by Madeleine Thien (McClelland & Stewart) — Thien’s new novel tells the story of a woman, who years earlier escaped from a Cambodian prison camp during the Khmer Rouge regime, as she searches for her neurologist friend. May 3.
• Pulse, by Julian Barnes (Random House of Canada) — A new collection of stories from the author of History of the World in 10-and-1/2 Chapters and Flaubert’s Parrot. May 3.
• The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, by Andrew Westoll (HarperCollins Canada) — Westoll established himself as one of the country’s best young journalists when The Riverbones was published in 2008. His latest chronicles his time volunteering in a facility for retired chimps. May 3.
• Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul by David Adams Richards (Doubleday Canada) — Richards returns with his first novel since The Lost Highway, described as “an intricate story about the miscarriage of justice in the case of one man”s death in a shipping yard in New Brunswick in 1985.” May 11.
• The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt (House of Anansi) — DeWitt, a Canadian transplant now living in Portland, publishes a literary Western about a pair of outlaw brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, tracking down a man named Hermann Kermit Warm in 1850s California. This one looks ridiculously cool. May 14.
• Paying For It, by Chester Brown (Drawn & Quarterly) — Brown’s first graphic novel since his acclaimed Louis Riel, Paying For It is a partly autobiographical exploration of the world’s oldest profession. May 29.
• The Forgotten Waltz, by Anne Enright (McClelland & Stewart) — Not much is known about this new novel from the winner of the 2007 Man Booker Prize for The Gathering. May 31.
BEYOND
Adam Gopnik delivers this year’s Massey Lectures, which should be out in October; we’re intrigued by the sounds of Lynn Coady’s latest book, The Antagonist; David Cronenberg’s debut novel may finally see the light of day; the first part of IQ84, by Haruki Murakami, finally gets translated into English, as does Michel Houellebecq’s new novel The Map and the Territory; Booker Prize-winning Aravind Adiga publishes Last Man in Tower; James Frey returns with the sure-to-be-controversial Final Testament of the Holy Bible; plus, new novels from Zadie Smith, Guy Vanderhaeghe, David Davidar, and (rumour has it) Michael Ondaatje.
from: National Post
When a band is ready to drop a new album, they’ll usually leak a single months in advance, giving their fans a taste of what’s in store. With a movie, a slickly-edited trailer might be released a year in advance, building a deafening amount of buzz. Films have the benefits of cool posters, too. Books, on the other hand, have few options to drum up interest ahead of time. Sure, there’s been the emergence of the book trailer in recent years, but they sometimes do more harm than good. The release of the book’s cover ahead of time might be one way to draw attention, but it’s often difficult to glean much just from that. A book’s synopsis will let us know what the book is about, but won’t tell us if it’s any good. An excerpt is probably the best way to build hype, but with the dwindling numbers of magazines publishing fiction, any sneak peak will reach a limited number of readers.
No, when it comes to new books, it’s all about gut instinct. Does the book sound cool? Did you enjoy the author’s last work? With that in mind, here’s what we’re looking forward to in the first part of 2011:
JANUARY
• While Mortals Sleep by Kurt Vonnegut (Delacorte Press) — Since his death in 2007, three posthumous collections of Vonnegut’s writing have appeared: Armageddon in Retrospect, Look at the Birdie, and now While Mortals Sleep, which collects sixteen unpublished short stories written by a very young Vonnegut. We’ll read anything with Vonnegut’s name on it, though perhaps there’s a reason these remained unpublished during his lifetime. Dave Eggers, who writes the book’s introduction, calls Vonnegut “a hippie Mark Twain.” Far out. January 25.
• The Beggar’s Garden by Michael Christie (HarperCollins Canada) — This skateboarder-turned-scribe releases his buzzed-about debut short story collection. These nine linked stories follow an odd assortment of characters (from crack heads and car thieves to bank managers and mental patients) as they live, work, and love in Vancouver’s infamous Downtown Eastside. A writer to watch. January 25.
• The Quiet Twin by Dan Vyleta (HarperCollins Canada) — Vyleta, a German-born Canadian writer, achieved international acclaim on the strength of his debut novel, Pavel & I. Set in Nazi-occupied Vienna, his follow-up, The Quiet Twin, is about a young forensic psychologist named Anton Beer who is asked to investigate a spate of unsolved murders centered around one apartment building. January 25.
FEBRUARY
• Scenes From An Impending Marriage by Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly) — A new book from renowned cartoonist Adrian Tomine (author of Shortcomings and Summer Blonde) is always a cause for celebration. His latest, though, is a bit different. This cute little volume began life as a gift to everyone who attending his nuptials. The perfect engagement gift. February 1.
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Knopf) — Russell established her name at a very young age with the short story collect St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, which was published in 2006. One of the stories in that collection, Ava Wrestles The Alligator, is the basis for her debut novel, Swamplandia!, about a 13-year-old girl named Ava Bigtree who is left to care for her family’s aging alligator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades after her mother dies and her father disappears. February 1.
• A Widow’s Story by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco) — In the tradition of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, this memoir explores how we cope with loss. In early 2008, her husband of nearly half a century, the noted publisher and editor Ray Smith, passed away unexpectedly. I’ve only read the recent (devastating) excerpt in The New Yorker, but that was enough to place this book near the top of my list. February 15.
• The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton (House of Anansi Press) — The venerable Toronto publisher launches its ambitious Spiderline crime fiction imprint with The Water Rat of Wanchai, the first in a massive new series following the adventures of Ava Lee, a young forensic accountant. In the first installment Ava journeys from Toronto to Hong Kong to the British Virgin Islands in search of a missing $5 million. If you like this, you won’t have to wait long for a sequel: The Disciple of Las Vegas comes out in July. February 19.
• When The Killing’s Done, by T.C. Boyle (Viking) –The ever-prolific American writer T. Coraghessan Boyle returns with this tale of nature-gone-wild on an island off the coast of California. February 22.
MARCH
• The Blue Light Project by Timothy Taylor (Knopf Canada) — Taylor, an award-winning author (Stanley Park; Story House) and journalist delivers his much-anticipated third novel, The Blue Light Project, which combines the stories of a washed-up investigative journalist at the centre of a hostage taking, an Olympic gold medalist, and a reclusive street artist. March 1.
• Mid-Life, by Joe Ollman (Drawn & Quarterly) — This much-anticipated graphic novel tells the story of a middle-aged man who has a child with hiss much-younger wife and the lonely children’s performer he befriends. March 1.
• The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht (Random House) — The story of a young doctor working at a remote orphanage in the Balkans who is investigating the strange circumstances surrounding her grandfather’s recent death intersects with the story of an escaped tiger who terrorizes a village during the Second World War. Obreht was the youngest writer on The New Yorker’s much-publicized “20 Under 40” list of writers to watch, and that was before she’d even published a single book. Does she live up to the hype? March 8.
• Underground, by Antanas Sileika (Thomas Allen) — The director of Toronto’s Humber School for Writers publishes his third novel, about two members of the underground Lithuanian resistance movement during the mid 1940s. March 26
• The Free World by David Bezmozgis (HarperCollins Canada) — Bezmozgis, author of the stellar debut short story collection Natasha and Other Stories, was only one of two Canadian authors (the other being Rivka Galchen) on The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” list. His first novel examines the plight of the Krasnansky family, a brood of Russian Jews, as they attempt to start a new life in Rome after escaping through the Iron Curtain. March 29.
• Folk, by Jacob McArthur Mooney (McClelland & Stewart) — This talented young Canadian poet returns with his sophomore collection, Folk, which is partly about the Swiss Air 11 crash off the coast of Peggy’s Cove in 1998. March 29.
APRIL
• Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuszi Gartner (Hamish Hamilton Canada) — Though she has only published one collection of short stories — 2000’s All The Anxious Girls on Earth — Vancouver’s Zsuzsi Gartner is already one of our foremost practitioners of the form. April 5.
• Methodist Hatchet, by Ken Babstock (House of Anansi) — Babstock, a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2007, releases a much-anticipated new collection. April 9.
• The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown and Company) — Carefully assembled from an unfinished novel by his longtime editor Michael Pietsch, The Pale King is the final, posthumous novel from the post-modern genius. Fittingly, it is about a man named David Foster Wallace who goes to work at the IRS Regional Examination Center in Peoria, Illinois. This is perhaps the year’s most anticipated book. April 15.
• Monoceros, by Suzette Mayr (Coach House Books) — The suicide of a young, gay man reverberates through his high school, affecting the odd assortment of students and teachers that roam within its halls. April 15.
• Beggar’s Feast by Randy Boyagoda (Viking Canada) — This regular National Post contributor follows-up his Giller Prize-nominated debut, Governor of the Northern Province. This multi-generational saga follows a Sri Lankan shipping magnate named Sam Kandy from his small village in turn-of-the-century Ceylon to Australia and Singapore and back again. April 19.
• The Great Night by Chris Adrian (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) — Adrian is perhaps the writer with the most well-rounded education in America (he went to medical school, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and Harvard Divinity School) and a Guggenheim Fellow to boot. He’s also an incredibly talented and moving writer, evident by his two novels (Gob’s Grief and The Children’s Hospital) and one collection of stories (A Better Angel). His newest novel is a retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but set in San Francisco. April 26.
MAY
• The Meagre Tarmac, by Clark Blaise (Biblioasis) — Blaise’s first collection of stories in nearly 20 years explores he lives of several generations of Indo-Americans in post-9/11 America. May 1.
• Dogs at the Perimeter, by Madeleine Thien (McClelland & Stewart) — Thien’s new novel tells the story of a woman, who years earlier escaped from a Cambodian prison camp during the Khmer Rouge regime, as she searches for her neurologist friend. May 3.
• Pulse, by Julian Barnes (Random House of Canada) — A new collection of stories from the author of History of the World in 10-and-1/2 Chapters and Flaubert’s Parrot. May 3.
• The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, by Andrew Westoll (HarperCollins Canada) — Westoll established himself as one of the country’s best young journalists when The Riverbones was published in 2008. His latest chronicles his time volunteering in a facility for retired chimps. May 3.
• Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul by David Adams Richards (Doubleday Canada) — Richards returns with his first novel since The Lost Highway, described as “an intricate story about the miscarriage of justice in the case of one man”s death in a shipping yard in New Brunswick in 1985.” May 11.
• The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt (House of Anansi) — DeWitt, a Canadian transplant now living in Portland, publishes a literary Western about a pair of outlaw brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, tracking down a man named Hermann Kermit Warm in 1850s California. This one looks ridiculously cool. May 14.
• Paying For It, by Chester Brown (Drawn & Quarterly) — Brown’s first graphic novel since his acclaimed Louis Riel, Paying For It is a partly autobiographical exploration of the world’s oldest profession. May 29.
• The Forgotten Waltz, by Anne Enright (McClelland & Stewart) — Not much is known about this new novel from the winner of the 2007 Man Booker Prize for The Gathering. May 31.
BEYOND
Adam Gopnik delivers this year’s Massey Lectures, which should be out in October; we’re intrigued by the sounds of Lynn Coady’s latest book, The Antagonist; David Cronenberg’s debut novel may finally see the light of day; the first part of IQ84, by Haruki Murakami, finally gets translated into English, as does Michel Houellebecq’s new novel The Map and the Territory; Booker Prize-winning Aravind Adiga publishes Last Man in Tower; James Frey returns with the sure-to-be-controversial Final Testament of the Holy Bible; plus, new novels from Zadie Smith, Guy Vanderhaeghe, David Davidar, and (rumour has it) Michael Ondaatje.
from: National Post
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