Alexander Starritt (born 1985) is a
Scottish-
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
novelist, journalist and entrepreneur. Starritt was educated at
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
.
He came to public attention in 2017 with the release of his debut novel ''The Beast''.
He was also one of the founding team on the policy platform Apolitical, which in 2018 was listed by US business magazine
''Fast Company'' as one of the World's 'Most Innovative Companies'.
Starritt has also published several translations from German, including works by
Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...
and
Arthur Schnitzler
Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist.
Biography
Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...
.
In 2020 he published ''We Germans'', a novel about Germans defeated on the Eastern Front of World War II.
''The Beast''
''The Beast'' is a satire of British
tabloid journalism
Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...
. It has been described by critics
as a successor to
Evelyn Waugh's novel ''
Scoop
Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to:
Objects
* Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging
* Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things
* Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualty ...
''. It tells the story of a downtrodden
sub-editor
Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...
, Jeremy Underwood, who notices two figures dressed in burqas outside the offices of the tabloid newspaper where he works. When he mentions this to his colleagues, their paranoia and hunger for a story take over. ''The Beasts journalists come to believe they are the target of an imminent
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
attack and events quickly escalate out of control.
The novel deals with themes such as the rapaciousness of the tabloids, the decline of print journalism, and
Islamophobia
Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism.
The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
in the British media. Several critics have pointed out that the novel contains a great deal of affection for the world it describes. For example, te Scottish journalist Hugh Macdonald, reviewing the novel in ''
The National'', wrote, "This may not be a love letter to the ailing print media but it will serve as an elegy."
Bibliography
Books
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Translations
*
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TEDx lectures
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starritt, Alexander
Living people
1985 births
Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
German male writers
Scottish writers