The Book Beat

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Showing posts with label Zadie Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zadie Smith. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Where to start with Martin Amis: The style, satire and the savage beauty of language

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With writers you grew up reading, their departure leaves a space in your life that is as close to an ache as books and literature can get. T...
Thursday, 15 May 2025

Whatever happened to Douglas Coupland?

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Douglas Coupland’s novel Generation X didn’t just name a demographic—it captured a mindset. His fiction defined the detached, drifting, hype...
Thursday, 1 May 2025

Why you should read Joan Didion and the best books to start with

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Joan Didion didn’t just write essays and novels, she rewired what prose could do. Her work is surgically precise and emotionally raw, offeri...
Wednesday, 12 March 2025

The art of the campus novel – what makes them work, and which are the best?

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Writing about Donna Tartt last week  and The Secret History got me thinking about the campus novel.   I’ve always been fascinated by this su...
Wednesday, 26 February 2025

How to write a novel when you have no time

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One of the biggest challenges for most writers is finding the time. In my 20s and early 30s, I could sit for hours and devote entire weekend...
Monday, 24 February 2025

Publication of Joan Didion’s journal creates an ethical literary dilemma

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Joan Didion has been a monumental influence on countless writers, including myself. Her works, from Slouching Towards Bethlehem to The Year ...
Tuesday, 11 February 2025

The art of showing, not telling: Crafting novels readers can’t put down

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I've struggled with this one without knowing and have been guilty of too much telling.  “Show, don’t tell” is one of the oldest pieces o...