“Intellectual Bestseller” may sound like a contradiction in terms for the U.S. book market, but Russia’s literary tradition of complex allegory and existential musing is still going strong. Cheap romance novels and Lord of the Rings knockoffs haven’t faltered (whatever happened to censorship?) – but Russian book prizes are what make or break many of…Continue Reading
Tannöd, Germany’s current number one fiction title, overcame two obstacles to win the prestigious 2007 Krimipreis for the best crime novel: the protagonist is not an investigator or super sleuth as is typical in crime fiction, and it is Andrea Maria Schenkel’s debut. She based the genre-bending novel on actual unsolved murders that took place…Continue Reading
As a member of the first internet-savvy generation, the Brazilian Daniel Galera (who was born 1979) naturally looked to the web when he first started writing stories ten years ago. He wrote for and edited literary websites before switching to paper and co-founding Livros do Mal (Evil Books), a publishing project responsible for bringing some…Continue Reading
One + one = three in Dutch author and Libris Prize winner Tomas Lieske‘s new novel My Sovereign Love about an artisan of arithmetic, his love interest, and a meddling monarch. Born in The Hague in 1528, Marnix de Veer is a mathematician, architect, and instrument-maker extraordinaire. Also a dabbler in foreign languages, he catches…Continue Reading
Copyright Conundrums in Iran, Swedish Suburbs & Chilean Death Publishing in Iran is a tough business. Just last year, Publishing Trends reported on the international stir caused by the Iranian government’s banning of Coelho‘s THE ZAHIR (PT June 2005). Eventually, the ban was lifted and Coelho turned up on Iranian bookshelves all over the country….Continue Reading
Italians Battle Reclusive Tenants, Food Taster Plays With Fire, Tony Soprano Takes Normandy Like an episode of House Hunters gone terribly awry, the latest offering of Italy’s Andrea De Carlo, Wind Shear, sets two well-acquainted couples (along with their trusty real estate agent) off from Milan to visit some country houses which they hope to…Continue Reading
Plagiarist Wallops Germany, Big Brother Is Watching in Italy, Dutch Golden Noose Nominee Smothers the Competition Hold on to your Warranties and Indemnities clause and prepare for a ride through the fraudulent world of a young waiter who feigns authorship to impress one of his regular customers, in Swiss author Martin Suter’s latest book, Lila,…Continue Reading
The sell-off of French giant Vivendi’s media assets has had buy-out bankers licking their chops the world over. But what does it spell for the increasingly monolithic publishing culture in France? This month Jean Rosenthal, former President of French publisher Stock and currently a translator and consultant to the publishing business, offers a view from…Continue Reading
Duck and Cover Fowl Play in Argentina, Penelope Unbound in Spain, And Birdsell’s Back in Canada Argentina’s “official historians” are quacking away over the latest provocation from historical novelist María Esther de Miguel, titled The Palace of the Ducks. The book carries forward the author’s “generally transgressive” history of Buenos Aires and adapts a detective…Continue Reading
The Waiting Game Lovelorn Levy in France, Qashu’s Israeli Arabs, And Poland’s Own Bridget Jones French architect-cum-literary-phenom Marc Levy hits the charts in both France and Italy with his second novel, Will You Be There?, a “treat of simplicity and emotion” that delves into the rendez-vous manqués between lovelorn Americans Philip and Susan, after the…Continue Reading
