A Free Radical: The Reason Why We’re Here
The credit goes to Corey Pressman of Exprima Media. I called to tell him that my position as Editorial Director of Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines had been eliminated, that I was no longer employed by parent company NAPCO. After some riffing and word association, he hit on the right expression and joyfully exclaimed: “You’re a free radical!” And so I am. Free to explore the exciting and ever-changing world of publishing through my own lens. Free to sniff out change, to explore the edges of what’s being developed and help bring important new approaches and technologies to the fore. Free to find the value in both the old and the new, in disruptive and legacy approaches. And radical in the sense of not being bound by the rules, embracing change, and veering away, far away, from the “this is how we’ve always done it” approach. Helping to put the pieces together into a new whole that makes sense and is fluid, productive, and successful. I’m pleased to introduce my new blog, Pub Hub, in which I will cover publishing news in book, magazine, and newspaper publishing. In many ways, these are three separate worlds, each with their own issues and challenges. In other ways, particularly as we move more and more into digital publishing, these three strands intersect and overlap. Publishing professionals in all three segments decide what gets published, shape it into publishable form, and make it available to readers, and have in common their role as gatekeepers of public discourse and of our intellectual heritage. I will be speaking with them, covering their news, their challenges, controversies and successes, and presenting it in both written and video form in this...
Lauren Grodstein’s Explanation for Everything
Local Philadelphia author Lauren Grodstein is out and about doing readings from her compelling new novel, The Explanation for Everything. You may have heard of Grodstein from the excellent press she received for her last novel, A Friend of the Family, and her new book is sure to be well-received as well. Lauren teaches creative writing at Rutgers University Camden and (I love when I can say this part) is an all-around lovely, friendly, funny person. Learn more about her work...
Life After Life After Life After Life…
Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life is a book I admired more than I enjoyed. I’ve always meant to read Atkinson, and have friends who have highly recommended her earlier crime stories Case Histories and Started Early, Took My Dog. When this new book came out, reviews seemed to indicate it was a departure in style for her, as well as something of a literary tour de force, so I decided to begin at the end, as it were, with her most recent book. Life After Life is the story of…well, that’s hard to say. It’s the story of Ursula, born outside London in 1910 on a very snowy day. The plot tracks the path of Ursula, some of her family members, friends, and acquaintances, as they wend their way through two World Wars. That path, however, is far from straight. This is a book that plays with timelines in a major way. Plot lines start and then stop, wind their way back to their starting point and begin again. Stories repeat with multiple endings. Characters live or die, survive or don’t; each character’s outcome changes in the story’s telling. Atkinson’s literary feat is impressive. One pictures her in her study with a huge collection of Post-its hovering overhead to help her keep track of plot strands. Being the puppet mistress pulling these strings was no easy feat. The concept itself is imaginative and original; the execution is excellent. When I say I admired the book more than I enjoyed it, what I mean is that, while reading it, I appreciated its literary acrobatics, but that kept me at a distance. While many of the characters, Ursula included, where quite likeable, compelling or entertaining, they did not so much draw me in as keep me watching from afar. Nonetheless, I think the book well deserves the accolades it has received and I recommend it for readers of serious and well-written literary fiction. I do plan to include it in my one of my Open Book discussion classes this spring as well, so check the events page for more...
Articles Archive
You Can’t Say That Again Read Any Good Books Lately? Disappearing Acts How to Avoid Writing Your First Novel How to Avoid Writing Your First Novel, Part 2 Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/17/13: Her Styling Network by Lynn Rosen: Philly Inquirer , 8/30/09: Lynn reviews The Invisible Mountains by Carolina De Robertis:> Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/2/07: How to Learn to Love Doing the Laundry by Lynn Rosen: Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/8/06: Let us sew, let us sew, let us sew by Lynn Rosen: Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/10/06: Thanks, Mom, for Clean Lessons by Lynn Rosen:...
CTV “Good Morning” Interview
Lynn Rosen interview on CTV’s “Canada A.M.” discussing etiquette and her book Elements of the Table