New Year’s Eve Literary Drinks
Monday, December 31st, 2007More drinks inspired by literature from The Guardian
Popularity: 20% [?]
More drinks inspired by literature from The Guardian
Popularity: 20% [?]
BookChase plublished a list of authors who passed on in 2007. It’s always sad to see a list like this but as one of the blogs readers put it “At least they leave a legacy of their work behind among other things.”
January:
Robert Anton Wilson, 74 - co-author of “The Illuminatus Trilogy”
Art Buchwald, 81 - author and humorist
Sidney Sheldon, 89 - author
Molly Ivins, 62 - political writer and humorist
Peter Tompkins, 87 - author of “The Secret Life of Plants”
February:
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., 89 - historian
Marianne Fredriksson, 79 - much-admired Swedish author
Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, 89 - German author of “Das Boot”
March:
Henri Troyat, 95 - prolific French author
Robert E. Petersen, 80 - magazine publisher
Michael Dibdin, 60 - author most famous for his “Aurelio Zen” mysteries
April:
Kurt Vonnegut, 84 - author
David Halberstam, 73 - historian and journalist famous for baseball writing
May:
Lloyd Alexander, 83 - author of children’s books
Mark Harris, 84 - most famous for his baseball books like “Bang the Drum Slowly”
June:
William Meredith, 88 - prize-winning poet
Richard Rorty - American philosopher
Nazek al-Malaika, 85 - Iraqi poet
Fred T. Saberhagen, 77 - science fiction author
July:
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, 68 - writer of historical romances
John Graham, 80 - author of children’s books
August:
Grace Paley, 84 - short story writer and poet
Edward Seidensticker, 86 - translator of Japanese literature
September:
Madeleine L’Engle, 88 - author most famous for “A Wrinkle in Time”
Robert Jordan, 58 - fantasy author
October:
Peg Bracken, 89 - author of the “I Hate to Cook Book”
November:
Norman Mailer, 84 - author and celebrity
Ira Levin, 78 - author most famous for “Rosemary’s Baby”
December:
Elizabeth Hardwick, 91 - author and critic, co-founder of The New York Review of Books
Popularity: 10% [?]
Miffed at the lack of science books in most of year end reviews - Edge posts their list of science books of 2007.
Popularity: 15% [?]
The Guardian Unlimited lists their 10 most read book stories of 2007
Popularity: 15% [?]
The Guardian posted a set of cocktails inspired by Dickens. That should help spread the Christmas cheer out until the New Year.
Popularity: 21% [?]
Sydney Morning Herald lists their picks for best books of 2007
Popularity: 9% [?]
The Times (of London) has the best and worst quotes from the literary world in 2007.
“Oh, Christ. You can’t go on getting excited every year about this. I’ve won all the prizes in Europe, every bloody one.” Doris Lessing’s response on being told she had won the Nobel prize for literature
Popularity: 16% [?]
Prospect looks at the year in culture (books, theatre, art, movies etc) and gathers those that were overrated and underrated.
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NFL kicker Jason Elam, who plays for the Denver Broncos, has published a spy thriller - Monday Night Jihad (football, terrorism and spying).
Popularity: 15% [?]
Entertainment Weekly has named their five worst books of the year. Here is what they wrote…..
Popularity: 14% [?]
I have absolutely no idea where Three Cups of Tea came from but it suddenly started appearing on our bestseller lists a couple of months ago. Now the author gets a big write up in USA Today as he explains about building schools in Pakistan.
Popularity: 10% [?]
One of my favourite counties back home in the UK is Dorset. It’s a beautiful place with an incredible coastline - hey, even Ian McEwan sets novels there. Of course, Dorset is also famous for Thomas Hardy but I have to admit that I struggled to like his writing when I studied Return of the Native in school. I just couldn’t get my head around Hardy’s ability to write eight straight pages about the beauty of Egdon Heath.
My family would often take holidays in Dorset and we would visit Dorchester (aka Casterbridge in The Mayor of Casterbridge). The Kings Arms Hotel, which is a key location in the book, is up for sale for around £3 million (a little more than a handwritten JK Rowling book). Built in 1720, the hotel is a very memorable place to visit - the quintessential English hotel in many ways. I can remember going for tea at the hotel as a child and thinking how old everything seemed.
Popularity: 10% [?]