Why is history still written mainly by men?
Fantastic article in The Guardian: Only four female writers appeared in the list of top 50 bestselling history titles in the UK last year. And women are still perceived as more suited to writing about drawing rooms than battlefields. Why? Leading historians and biographers discuss sexism and subject matter. All the big British names in…
Where does non-fiction end and fiction begin?
Back in April I drew your attention to a marvelous review by Janet Malcolm of the non-fiction work of Joseph Mitchell. In the course of the review Malcolm makes the startling revelation that his non-fiction is substantially enhanced by the (recently discovered) fictional additions. Mitchell’s travels across the line that separates fiction and nonfiction are…
A Book Review by Janet Malcolm
Of course you should click through and read it. It’s a book review by Janet Malcolm. Yes, Janet Malcolm. In the New York Review of Books. The Master Writer of the City is Malcolm’s review of a biography of a writer, Joseph Mitchell. And in the course of the review Malcolm writes about writing. That…
Books about Biography
Sometimes it seems like I spend more time reading about writing than actually writing. More time listening to people talk about books (at festivals, on podcasts, in book reviews) than actually reading. I could beat myself up about this – and sometimes I do – but more often I just accept that I reading and…