Michigan Writers

New book asks: Could Germany have a Jewish chancellor?

admin — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:49:50 +0000

By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) – A new novel about a neo-Nazi plot to assassinate Germany's first Jewish candidate for Chancellor has shed a timely light on the right-wing extremist violence that has plagued the country since 1990 and was swept under the carpet for years. Political thriller “The Jewish Candidate” by British journalist David Crossland has been published just as Germany's September election campaign is heating up and at the start of a trial of a neo-Nazi cell blamed for a spate of racist murders that went undetected for more than a decade. …

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New book asks: Could Germany have a Jewish chancellor?

First edition of ‘Great Gatsby’ to be sold at auction

creative — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:58:36 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A first edition copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, “The Great Gatsby,” will be up for sale next month and could fetch up to $150,000, Sotheby’s said on Thursday. The book, which once belonged to the critic and author Malcolm Cowley, will go under the hammer along with a group of Fitzgerald’s letters and an unpublished poem in the June 11 books and manuscript sale in New York. …

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First edition of ‘Great Gatsby’ to be sold at auction

Dan Brown’s "Inferno" tops U.S. best-sellers list

creative — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:52:10 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) – “Inferno,” Dan Brown’s latest book, shot to the top of the U.S. best-sellers list on Thursday. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. “Inferno” by Dan Brown (Doubleday, $29.95) – 2. “The 12th of Never” by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown, $27.99) 2 3.

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Dan Brown’s "Inferno" tops U.S. best-sellers list

James Salter breaks long silence with ‘All That Is’

publisher — Thu, 23 May 2013 06:14:17 +0000

By Billy Cheung NEW YORK (Reuters) – Award-winning author James Salter, who completed his last full-length book more than 30 years ago, has released a new novel that chronicles a life drawn from many of his own experiences. Like Salter, the main character in “All That Is” leaves the military to embark on a literary career. Unlike Salter, Philip Bowman becomes an editor after failing to find work as a writer. Salter is considered by many one of the best postwar American novelists and short-story writers. …

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James Salter breaks long silence with ‘All That Is’

Robin Roberts memoir coming next year

creative — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:46:28 +0000

By Tim Molloy NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Robin Roberts will release a memoir in April 2014 detailing her battle against her life-threatening illness and return to the “Good Morning America” anchor desk. Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, is publishing the book, which Jamie Raab, president and publisher of Grand Central Publishing, will edit. “I am humbled that many have an interest, and draw strength from my ongoing journey,” said Roberts. “I'm grateful for the prayers and well wishes of so many people. …

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Robin Roberts memoir coming next year

Novelist Irvine Welsh spies future in mixed-media

publisher — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:10:37 +0000

By Claire Davenport BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Electronic publishing is allowing authors to be more creative and the best ones are successfully blending video and online content with traditional text, says cult writer Irvine Welsh. The author of “Trainspotting” and “The Acid House”, who has also written short stories and plays, said e-publishing meant writers had to work harder to grab readers' attention in an age when wireless devices are rapidly replacing paperback books. …

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Novelist Irvine Welsh spies future in mixed-media

Book Talk: Of apes and atheists – is empathy evolution?

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:10:42 +0000

By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – For biologist Frans de Waal, a peaceful species of great ape in Africa is a mirror of humanity and a living argument that empathy and cooperation are far from unique to mankind. “The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism among the Primates”, argues that both traits may be evolved behaviors based on his studies of the bonobo, which is found only in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other primates. …

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Book Talk: Of apes and atheists – is empathy evolution?

Critics label Dan Brown’s "Inferno" a clunky page-turner

creative — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:08:14 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) – Early reviews of Dan Brown's fast-paced fourth book in “The Da Vinci Code” series labeled it a “clunky” page-turner that will nevertheless delight his fans. Critics said the dark mysteries, mind-bending codes and history-laced tourism in “Inferno” will thrill Brown devotees, but panned the U.S. author for passages they said were more suited to a Hollywood film script than a novel. …

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Critics label Dan Brown’s "Inferno" a clunky page-turner

Dan Brown’s "Inferno" novel in hot demand ahead of release

creative — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:06:29 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) – Booksellers are predicting that “Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown's latest title “Inferno” will become the biggest-selling book of the year, ahead of its release on Tuesday. Sales of the book, which sees the return of fictional symbologist Robert Langdon, have already reached the highest level of customer pre-orders at retailer Waterstones since the release of Harry Potter author JK Rowling's adult fiction “The Casual Vacancy” last year. …

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Dan Brown’s "Inferno" novel in hot demand ahead of release

Merkel says has no secrets about her communist past

publisher — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:14:09 +0000

By Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel has dismissed claims in a new book that she was more actively committed to East Germany's communist regime than she has acknowledged, saying she has never kept anything secret about her past. The book, “The first life of Angela M.”, says that Merkel, who will seek a third term as chancellor in a federal election in September, was responsible for Marxist-Leninist education in a unit of the state's youth wing, in a role that went beyond the cultural duties she has previously spoken of. …

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Merkel says has no secrets about her communist past