Atlantic Books

Penny Dreadfuls

2011-11-22T07:17:00.000-08:00

A Publishing Director is extolling the virtues of Sainsbury's Basic's fromage frais to the Rights Director who says she's downgraded, first from Sainsbury's to Morrisons, and now to Asda. Their cottage cheese with pepper, she claims, is amazing. (I will leave you just for a Tiny Tim second to imagine her trudging round a supermarket, slapping her Asda-price bottom, so she can feast on a delicious tub of cottage cheese whose only flavouring comes out of a pepper mill)...

'What has happened to us, the literati, the Middle Classes, 'purveyors of culture' as the boss puts it, boasting about our low-budget brands?' asks the Publishing Director, rhetorically, because we know exactly what has happened to us. We're broke.

Meanwhile, I'm walking through Notting Hill Gate where there's a brand, new swanky Deli opened, with chairs outside on the pavement where you can sip your cappuccino with the car fumes racing up Camden Hill Road and, presumably, scoff some pasta rolled between the thighs of Veronese matrons, served with Pecorino from blind, albino goats on a Genovese hillside while eco-goatherds, hold parasols over their heads. I say, presumably, because I've never set foot in the place. Heck I never even make it into Mark's & Spencer. These days I'm a Tesco's Value gal when I'm a foot-shopper and my entire Sainsbury's-to-you shop is white as a virgin bride with big orange letters on it (four gallons of 'basics' bleach - I think the delivery must have though I was making a very economical bomb - in fact I'm cleaning the house. It's cheaper than belonging to the gym and one of my few affordable leisure activities.)

My ex-husband is shocked. Me? Not been in? Ever? Me, deli-addict, food fetishist who almost licked the shelves in the tiny branch of Eataly housed in the basement of Milan's Coin? Me, the salivator over three quid packets of frilly pasta and the coveter of twenty quid bottles of any kind of liquid that has a pretty label? Me, the person who has empty tins of French fish paste arranged (tastefully, mais, bien sur) on her shelves because they just look pretty, even though they did taste a tad cat foody?

Yes, me. My food-porn days are over. I don't even get turned on any more by a sandwich board saying 'Fresh Truffles in Stock' - I just think, oh truff off, really? You Holland Park hotties who trot into Mechanico for a 60p fig when you can get five for a quid on the stall outside Holborn Tube station, swanning into Jeroboams for your ruddy white truffles - how do you AFFORD it? Where is your money coming from? Not publishing, that's for sure. We're the new poor, we publishing types. Currently, Waitrose, is my idea of a luxury deli, and even then I can only go in for a few, select, items.

Watching Gossip Girl the other day with my kids, I was amused, bemused and then just plain irritated, to see one of the characters get a book deal and be invited along to a dinner in a swanky restaurant to meet his publisher (a real-live one, his cameo role shoehorned in for - ahem - authenticity) and being told, (after they'd applauded him) 'This is your editor'. Oh how I laughed. Till I cried. Real bitter tears. And then there was the publicist, who when planning the book launch for that evening (which wasn't FHB*, a bag of crisps and three bottles of Tesco's value red; but held in some palatial uptown duplex with double, yes really, double door, behind which he 'hid' before appearing to more applause) called out: 'Don't forget your suit fitting at Emporio Armani at three.' Okay, maybe I got the time wrong, but dear GOD, have these people ever read a book, let alone claim to have written one? The most we at Pedantic have stretched for was a Tuxedo hire for an author who didn't own one (naturally enough, because, of course, it is not, really, an absolutely vital piece of wardrobe for a person who sits all day facing a wall, and dreams of a book signing in Waterstones' for 26 people, 22 of whom are his blood relatives, but who have still had to be bribed to come along by the aforementioned three bottles of plonk). The last awards ceremony some of the Pedants attended, a young editor turned up in the taxi in socks since he was borrowing the Editorial Director's husband's dress shoes for the evening.

Barefoot and penniless - a life in literature. Down in out in Potter's Bar and Lewisham... Grapes of Chilean Merlot, Of Mice and Menus...

God bless us, every one.

Man Booker shortlistee A.D. Miller @ Chalfont St Giles Library, 27 October 2011

2011-10-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

This Thursday evening, A.D. Miller will be reading from his Man Booker shortlisted debut novel SNOWDROPS at the Chalfont St Giles Reading Room on the High Street.

The evening will begin at 8pm, with refreshments provided.

Snowdrops. That’s what the Russians call them – the bodies that float up into the light in the thaw. Drunks, most of them, and homeless people who just give up and lie down in the whiteness, and murder victims hidden in the drifts by their killers.

Born in London in 1974, A.D. MILLER studied literature at Cambridge and Princeton. He worked as a TV producer before joining The Economist. From 2004 to 2007 he was the magazine's Moscow correspondent, travelling widely across Russia and the former Soviet Union. He is the author of the acclaimed family history The Earl of Petticoat Lane (Wm. Heinemann, 2006); Snowdrops is his first novel.

A.N. Wilson @ Henley Literature Festival, 30 September 2011, 2.30pm

2011-09-22T04:25:00.000-07:00

AN WILSON
DIVINE INSPIRATION

For over 500 years Dante's The Divine Comedy has inspired writers from Shakespeare to Beckett; and continues to dazzle readers today. But how much do we know of the world in which he lived and what inspired him? The prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist A N Wilson presents a glittering study of an artist and his world, arguing that without an understanding of medieval Florence, it is impossible to comprehend the meaning of Dante's great poem. It also lays bare the enigma of the man who never wrote about the mother of his children, yet immortalized the mysterious Beatrice, whom he barely knew.

Dante in Love - Atlantic Books
Sponsored by HW Fisher

Tickets £6

Event location: Phyllis Court

Alistair Darling @ Henley Literature Festival, 30 September, 7.30pm

2011-09-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

BACK FROM THE BRINK

No one was closer to the financial meltdown that swept across the world than Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. His book captures all the important events during his three-year tenure as chancellor in Gordon Brown's cabinet, especially his experience at the heart of the global banking crisis. He also details the pivotal role he played with the former prime minister in putting together an international rescue package. An exciting opportunity to hear from the man at the very centre of finance and politics in the period that shook the world.

‘The reverse sexists assume that this book is stylishly written only because Alistair Darling’s wife, Maggie Vaughan, and his special adviser, Catherine McLeod, helped to write it. I am not so sure. I have always liked Alistair Darling’s dry wit and my own unfounded assumption is that the best lines in the book are his own.’

John Rentoul, Independent on Sunday

Event details:

7.30pm Kenton Theatre £9 Sold Out

Dominic Streatfeild @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

HOW WE LET 9/11 CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY

‘I don't care what the international lawyers say. We are going to kick some ass.’ George Bush’s fighting talk in September 2001 led to armed intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, the continuing reports of car bombs, IEDs and ambushes suggest they were among the worst foreign policy decisions of modern times. In his unflinching analysis of Western policies since 9/11, Streatfeild claims that al-Qaeda never threatened our existence, ‘but our reaction to it might’. Chaired by Declan Walsh.

Event details:

Saturday 27^th August

12.30pm-1.30pm

Peppers Theatre

To buy tickets click here

Praise for A History of the World Since 9/11:

‘Anger crackles from every page of this book.’ Daily Telegraph

‘This book should have you ready to run a marathon by the time you reach the last page.’ The List

Cate Kennedy @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

EMOTIONAL TIES THAT BIND

With Gail Jones

Cate Kennedy’s The World Beneath brings two former lovers together around one individual – their teenage daughter. Featuring two of Australia’s most exciting young authors, this event underlines the energy and sophistication of contemporary fiction from down under.

Event details:

Friday 19^th August

8.30pm-9.30pm

RBS Corner Theatre

To buy tickets click here

Praise for The World Beneath:

‘Rendered with appealing delicacy, nuance and affection’ The Observer

‘A very effective blend of social comedy and lyrically precise naturalism’ Financial Times

Kristin Hersh @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

THROWING MUSES LEAD SINGER ON SURVIVING MENTAL ILLNESS

She was at the centre of the American indie music scene throughout the 80s and 90s, releasing several acclaimed albums which led the way for the likes of Nirvana. Kristin Hersh has continued to pursue a successful singing career ever since, but as she explains in her memoir she has been living with bipolar disorder throughout. In this event she tells the story of a wild year when she was 18, got pregnant and had a baby, toured incessantly, and embarked on an enduring friendship with Hollywood musical star Betty Hutton.

Event details:

Wednesday 17^th August

8.30pm-9.30pm

ScottishPower Studio Theatre

To buy tickets click here

‘A very lucid, mature account of insanity’ The Times

‘An unusual memoir: electric, elastic, vivid.’ Times Literary Supplement

Gavin Weightman @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

HOW ELECTRIFICATION CHANGED BRITAIN FOREVER

In Children of Light, social historian Weightman brings to life celebrated electrical pioneers, such as Thomas Edison, Rookes Crompton, and Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti who built Britain's first major power station on the Thames. Taking in the electrification of the London Underground, the vital modernising of industry during two World Wars and the role of environmentalists, Weightman shows that the electric revolution has brought us luxury – but at a price.

Event details:

Tuesday 23^rd August

11.00am-12.00pm

Peppers Theatre

To buy tickets click here

Praise for Children of Light:

‘Weightman... gives us the full absorbing story. Very strongly recommended.’ Reader’s Digest

David McKie @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

HOW TO CREATE LOCAL UTOPIAS

With Gregory Claeys

McKie’s Bright Particular Stars examines twenty six glorious British eccentrics who had a major impact on unlikely locations from the Cotswolds to Kilwinning.

Event details:

Tuesday 23^rd August

4.00pm-5.00pm

Peppers Theatre

To buy tickets click here

‘[Bright Particular Stars] is a fascinating gallery of people who deserve to be better remembered.’ Sunday Times

‘A splendid book’ Clive Aslet, Country Life

Gideon Rachman @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

POLITICS, POWER AND PROSPERITY AFTER THE GOOD TIMES

In Zero-Sum World, the chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times assesses how the major Western powers are being sorely tested by China muscling in on their patch. How the US and EU react to this new economic challenge, as well as what they do to tackle climate change, war, nuclear proliferation and division between countries where previously there had been a harmonious co-operation, will help mould all our futures.

Event details:

Friday 26^th August

5.00pm-6.00pm

ScottishPower Studio Theatre

To buy tickets click here

Praise for Zero-Sum World:

‘Admirable’ Total Politics

‘Rachman’s article is sharp and snappy’ Guardian

Christopher Hope @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

WHEN COUNTRIES ARE TORN APART BY BELIEF

With Patrick McCabe

Christopher Hope’s novel Shooting Angels goes right to the broken heart of his home country, South Africa, as a man returns to the city after decades in hiding, to find out what happened to the woman he loved on that terrible night so long ago. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1992, Hope makes clear in his latest novel that the ‘new South Africa’ still bears many painful memories.

Event details:

Sunday 28^th August

8.30pm-9.30pm

Peppers Theatre

To buy tickets click here

A.D Miller @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS GOING ON IN RUSSIA?

With Andy Kurkov

A D Miller was the Economist’s Moscow correspondent for three years and Snowdrops is a riveting psychological drama that asks whether Moscow is corrupt, or whether a young English visitor is merely asking to be corrupted. Snowdrops has recently been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the CWA Gold Dagger Award, with shortlists for both awards to be announced in the coming weeks.

Event details:

Friday 26^th August

8.30pm-9.30pm

RBS Corner Theatre

To buy tickets click here

Praise for Snowdrops:

‘Tightly written.... Miller’s complex, gripping debut novel is undoubtedly the real thing.’ John Harding, Daily Mail

‘Sophisticated and many-layered’ The Spectator

David Miller @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

TIGHT AND TAUT TALES OF INTER-WAR EUROPE

With Dan Vyleta

It’s August 1924 and John Conrad arrives at his parents’ home on the outskirts of Canterbury. But as guests converge, John's father (the rather famous Joseph) dies. Miller’s taut and understated debut Today is an investigation of bereavement, family and Englishness.

Event details:

Wednesday 17^th August

8.30pm-9.30pm

RBS Corner Theatre

To buy tickets click here

Praise for Today:

‘Curious and compelling’ The Times

‘Compelling’ The Guardian

Joanne Limburg @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

A POSITIVE SPIN ON DEBILITATING AFFLICTION

Poet Joanne Limburg worries about global disasters, mainly because she thinks they may somehow be her fault. She also hates crossing the road, has a mortal dread of losing her shoes and began to dread sitting at her desk to write for fear that her chair would catch fire. In The Woman Who Thought Too Much, this OCD-inflicted writer faces up to her demons and transcribes a painful but ultimately hopeful tract about her troubled and anxious soul.
The Woman Who Thought Too Much has recently been shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year Award (winner still tba).

Event details:
Wednesday 17^th August

5.00pm-6.00pm
ScottishPower Studio Theatre

To buy tickets click here.

Praise for The Woman Who Thought Too Much:

‘A candid and often funny memoir’ Stylist Magazine

‘Her candid narrative evokes both pity and admiration’ Metro

Francisco Goldman @ Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

A NOVELIST’S RESPONSE TO A TRAGEDY

In 2005 the acclaimed novelist Francisco Goldman married a young Mexican writer, Aura Estrada. Less than two years later, she was dead, her neck broken while body surfing. Goldman blamed himself for Aura's death, but instead of taking his own life he confronted his grief by writing a novel, Say Her Name. A story of boundless love and unspeakable loss, it is also profoundly restorative: by recounting Aura's life, he has recreated a love affair that will never die.

Event details:

Monday 15th August 3.30pm-4.30pm

ScottishPower Studio Theatre

To buy tickets click here.

‘[Say Her Name is] a beautiful and often unbearably sad memoir of grief and memory’ The Observer

28 July, 10am David Miller, author of TODAY @ Solihull Library

2011-07-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Solihull Libary's Reading Circle has invited David Miller, author of acclaimed TODAY. He will be at the Library on Thursday 28 July, 10am to 12pm.
Tickets are free, but to reserve a place phone the library on 0121 704 8534 or email 247library@solihull.gov.uk.

Praise for TODAY:
'An impressive debut' Financial Times

‘Curious and compelling.’ The Times

'A wonderful piece of fiction. Moving and revelatory.’ A N Wilson

17 July @ 10am, Ray Tallis at Ways with Words Festival, Dartington Hall, Devon

2011-07-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Ray Tallis is the author of three books, published by Atlantic Books: MICHELANGELO'S FINGER, THE KINGDOM OF INFINITE SPACE and HIPPOCRATIC OATHS.

Raymond Tallis, clinical neuroscientist and philosopher, mounts an all-out assault on claims made by some contemporary thinkers who believe that biological factors alone can explain human consciousness and behaviour. Arguing that human beings are infinitely more interesting and complex, Tallis offers a combative, rigorous, witty and thoughtprovoking critique.

Tickets are £9 and can be purchased online here.

15 July, 4pm Event with Margaret Drabble @ Ways with Words, Dartington Hall, Devon

2011-07-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

SOCIAL CHANGES, SHORT STORIES

Margaret Drabble’s penetrating evocations of character and place, her wide-ranging curiosity and her sense of irony are all on display in her recent collection of short stories that explore the social changes of the past 40 years. She offers her perceptive observations on what is vital to human beings.

Margaret Drabble's memoir, THE PATTERN IN THE CARPET, was published in paperback last year.

Margaret's event at the Ways with Words Festival will take place at 4pm in the Great Hall at Dartington. Tickets for the Festival can be bought here.

The week in publicity

2011-06-28T04:29:00.000-07:00

Summer has really started with a bang, the office yesterday was sweltering, electric fans buzzing busily but barely moving the static air.
More excitingly, THE QUEEN MUST DIE blog tour started yesterday and KAS Quinn is visiting a different blog every day until Sunday 3 July.
Tomorrow evening, A.N. Wilson is visiting Toppings in Bath for an author drink. Tickets from the shop, although it might be sold out, so move fast on that one!
Review-wise, we've had a fantastic June with our four big titles LAST MAN IN TOWER, DANTE IN LOVE, FOREIGN BODIES and AS GOOD AS GOD, AS CLEVER AS THE DEVIL garnering reviews across the board in national and regional press and radio.
DANTE IN LOVE, AS GOOD AS GOD, AS CLEVER AS THE DEVIL, IN A STRANGE ROOM and PURGE were also picked by the Sunday Times for their Summer Reads issue.

THE QUEEN MUST DIE blog tour

2011-06-24T03:58:00.000-07:00

We're very excited at Atlantic Towers about the very first blog tour EVER by one our authors!

Seven lovely bloggers will be hosting KAS QUINN, author of the fantastic time-travel adventure romp THE QUEEN MUST DIE. There'll be short pieces by the author on each blog followed by an extract.

The first blog she'll be heading to is Wondrous Reads on Monday 27 June - http://www.wondrousreads.com/.

On 28 June she'll be visiting Books 4 Teens at http://www.books4teens.co.uk,/ followed by the Reader Room on 29 June http://thereaderroom.blogspot.com/ and Above Average Below Special http://aboveaveragebelowspecial-lettie.blogspot.com/ on 30 June.

The last three stops are I Want To Read That http://www.iwanttoreadthat.com/ on 1 July, Five Minutes Peace http://www.5minutespeace.wordpress.com/ on 2 July and and finishing My Favourite Books http://www.myfavouritebooks.blogspot.com/ on 3 July.

Do visit each blog and there's also a giveaway of 2 copies of the book on Above Average Below Special.

Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga - Guardian review

2011-06-15T06:44:00.001-07:00

Have a read of this fab review of the new Aravind Adiga novel, Last Man in Tower.
'...a subtle and nuanced examination of the nature of personal corruption' Alex Clark, The Guardian

Event with A.N. Wilson 29/06/11

2011-06-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

A.N. Wilson will be at the wonderful Toppings in Bath on Wednesday 29 June, talking about his new book, DANTE IN LOVE.

Venue: The Bookshop, BA1 5LS

Tickets £6/5 with £6/5 off Dante in Love.
The reduced price shown above is available when booking in person at the bookshop, before Wednesday 29th June.