The Astral (novel)
''The Astral'' is a 2011 novel by Kate Christensen. It is about a poet, Harry Quirk, who having been thrown out of the family apartment at the Astral by his wife Luz, attempts to get his life back together. Reception Daniel Handler, reviewing ''The Astral'' in ''The New York Times'', called it "an object lesson on the current realist novel, with its pitfalls and pleasures both as clear as the book’s unsentimental vision." and concluded "the realist novel believes that we are, all of us ordinary people in our ordinary lives, enchanted already. .. But then when I open a novel, I expect something other than the ordinary circumstances that already surround me, be it in language or story. I think most readers do. To expect otherwise, as Christensen does in “The Astral,” seems a little, well, unrealistic." ''The Washington Post'' found "that Christensen has somehow — again — created a captivatingly believable male narrator". ''The Astral'' has also been reviewed by ''Booklist' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kate Christensen
Kate Christensen (born August 22, 1962) is an American novelist. She won the 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her fourth novel, '' The Great Man'', about a painter and the three women in his life. Her previous novels are ''In the Drink'' (1999), ''Jeremy Thrane'' (2001), and '' The Epicure's Lament'' (2004). Her fifth novel, '' Trouble'' (2009), was released in paperback by Vintage/Anchor in June 2010. Her sixth novel, '' The Astral'', was published in hardcover by Doubleday in June 2011. She is also the author of two food-related memoirs, '' Blue Plate Special'' (Doubleday, 2013) and '' How to Cook a Moose'' (Islandport Press, 2015), which won the 2016 Maine Literary Award for memoir. She is a graduate of Reed College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her essays, articles, reviews, and stories have appeared in many anthologies and periodicals, including ''The New York Times Book Review'', ''Bookforum'', ''Elle'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''Vogue'', '' Food & Wine'', '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly marketed and so the audience expects the work to deviate in some ways from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood to not fully adhere to the real world, the themes and con ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Doubleday (publisher)
Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 and was the largest in the United States by 1947. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and distributed them through its own stores. In 2009 Doubleday merged with Knopf Publishing Group to form the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, which is now part of Penguin Random House. In 2019, the official website presents Doubleday as an imprint, not a publisher. History The firm was founded as Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 by Frank Nelson Doubleday in partnership with Samuel Sidney McClure. McClure had founded the first U.S. newspaper syndicate in 1884 ( McClure Syndicate) and the monthly '' McClure's Magazine'' in 1893. One of their first bestsellers was ''The Day's Work'' by Rudyard Kipling, a short story collection that Macmillan published in Britain late in 1898. Other authors published by the company in its early years include W. Somerse ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Hardback
A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occasionally leather). It has a flexible, sewn spine which allows the book to lie flat on a surface when opened. Modern hardcovers may have the pages glued onto the spine in much the same way as paperbacks. Following the ISBN sequence numbers, books of this type may be identified by the abbreviation Hbk. Hardcover books are often printed on acid-free paper, and they are much more durable than paperbacks, which have flexible, easily damaged paper covers. Hardcover books are marginally more costly to manufacture. Hardcovers are frequently protected by artistic dust jackets, but a "jacketless" alternative has increased in popularity: these "paper-over-board" or "jacketless" hardcover bindings forgo the dust jacket in favor of printing the cove ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Astral Apartments
The Astral Apartments is an apartment building located at 184 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City. The Astral was built in 1885–1886 as affordable housing for employees of Charles Pratt's Astral Oil Works. It is a block-long brick and terra cotta building in the Queen Anne style. It features a central projecting section with a deep, three-story-high round arch recess. ''See also:'' The roof features inward-looking decorative grotesques. Original amenities of the building included a settlement house, library, and kindergarten. Originally, a branch of the Pratt Institute Free Library operated from the ground floor of the Astral.Ostrander, Stephen M. (1894).''A History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County'', Volume II Brooklyn, NY: Subscription. The building was designed to echo red-brick apartments built for workers by George Peabody in London. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NR ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970) is an American author, musician, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is best known for his children's book series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' and ''All the Wrong Questions'', published under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The former was adapted into a Nickelodeon film in 2004 as well as a Netflix series from 2017 to 2019. Handler has published adult novels and a stage play under his real name, along with other children's books under the Snicket pseudonym. His first book, a satirical fiction piece titled '' The Basic Eight'', was rejected by many publishers for its dark subject matter. Handler has also played the accordion in several bands, and appeared on the album '' 69 Love Songs'' by indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. Life Handler was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Sandra Handler (née Walpole), a retired City College of San Francisco dean, and Louis Handler, an accountant. His father ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital media, digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as ''The Daily (podcast), The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones (publisher), George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won List of Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times, 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national "newspaper of record". For print it is ranked List of newspapers by circulation, 18th in the world by circulation and List of newspapers in the United States, 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is Public company, publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 189 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large national audience. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The ''Post'' was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. Financier Eugene Meyer (financier), Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy in 1933 and revived its health and reputation, work continued by his successors Katharine Graham, Katharine and Phil Graham (Meyer's daughter and son-in-law), who bought out several rival publications. The ''Post'' 1971 printing of the Pentagon Papers helped spur opposition to the Vietnam War. Subsequently, in the best-known episode in the newspaper's history, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the American press's investigation into ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is available to subscribers in print and online. ''Booklist'' is published 22 times per year, and reviews over 7,500 titles annually. The ''Booklist'' brand also offers a blog, various newsletters, and monthly webinars. The ''Booklist'' offices are located in the American Library Association headquarters in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. History ''Booklist'', as an introduction from the American Library Association publishing board notes, began publication in January 1905 to "meet an evident need by issuing a current buying list of recent books with brief notes designed to assist librarians in selection." With an annual subscription fee of 50 cents, ''Booklist'' was initially subsidized by a $100,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice. It also reviews library-related materials and equipment. Each year since 2008, the Journal has assessed public libraries and awarded stars in their Star Libraries program. Its "Library Journal Book Review" does pre-publication reviews of several hundred popular and academic books each month. ''Library Journal'' has the highest circulation of any librarianship journal, according to Ulrich's—approximately 100,000. ''Library Journal's'' original publisher was Frederick Leypoldt, whose company became R. R. Bowker. Reed International (later merged into Reed Elsevier) purchased Bowker in 1985; they published ''Library Journal'' until 2010, when it was sold to Media Source Inc., owner of the Junior Library Guild and '' The Horn Book ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers' literature. ''Kirkus Reviews'', published on the first and 15th of each month; previews books before their publication. ''Kirkus'' reviews over 10,000 titles per year. History Virginia Kirkus was hired by Harper & Brothers to establish a children's book department in 1926. The department was eliminated as an economic measure in 1932 (for about a year), so Kirkus left and soon established her own book review service. Initially, she arranged to get galley proofs of "20 or so" books in advance of their publication; almost 80 years later, the service was receiving hundreds of books weekly and reviewing about 100. Initially titled ''Bulletin'' by Kirkus' Bookshop Service from 1933 to 1954, the title wa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of Book Publishing and Bookselling". With 51 issues a year, the emphasis today is on book reviews. The magazine was founded by bibliographer Frederick Leypoldt in the late 1860s, and had various titles until Leypoldt settled on the name ''The Publishers' Weekly'' (with an apostrophe) in 1872. The publication was a compilation of information about newly published books, collected from publishers and from other sources by Leypoldt, for an audience of booksellers. By 1876, ''The Publishers' Weekly'' was being read by nine tenths of the booksellers in the country. In 1878, Leypoldt sold ''The Publishers' Weekly'' to his friend Richard Rogers Bowker, in order to free up time for his other bibliographic endeavors. Eventually the publication expand ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |