Issue 44 / May 2012
September Update: Teju Cole, Amy Waldman, Jonathan Trigell, Jo Baker and the African Short Story
It's been an eventful month between issues, yet the world of arts and letters still managed to squeeze in among the main headlines - often for dubious reasons. During the Great British Shoplift, Waterstone's and other bookstores seemed to be protected by a mysterious force field of indifference.
Meanwhile, across the pond, a different kind of literary gasp was heard as Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood was pulled from a high school summer reading list after a handful of New Jersey parents focused the nation's attention on a previously overlooked lesbian sex scene. The resulting furore wasn't confined to the school district, but could be heard across the US, Europe and Japan. But was the reaction justified?
For the forthcoming Banned Books Week (Sept 24-Oct 1), UK libraries have been hand-picking over 100 great banned books that have made it firmly into the mainstream despite having once been branded anti-religious, sexually perverse, politically incorrect, or otherwise socially damaging.
The ten-year anniversary of 9/11 is less than a week away, and TV channels around the world are airing documentaries and dramas on the subject. The Submission by Amy Waldman has been making waves since publication in the US last month. With the selection of the design of a suitable memorial for the victims as the focal point, the novel features a host of characters touched by the tragedy. Teju Cole's Open City , also labelled a post-9/11 novel, boils the tension down to one man's inner turmoil.
We enjoyed the clever digital campaign Random House created for Erin Morgenstern's debut novel The Night Circus. Whether the game makes you want to buy the book remains to be seen, but it's refreshing to see publishers rise to the challenge of responding to a supposed 'digitally savvy' audience.
When you're finished tweeting about the Night Circus game, do sit back and enjoy this bumper issue, also featuring the African short story, Jo Baker, Booker Prize nominee Yvvette Roberts, Jonathan Trigell, and a weird and wonderful Top 10 collection from debut novelist Kevin Wilson.
Happy reading!
Farhana Gani, 5th September 2011
Monday, 5 September, 2011
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