Newsroom

When our beloved author and actress Carrie Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, passed away on December 27, 2016, her family, friends and fans worldwide mourned. Carrie’s publisher Blue Rider Press shared these words: “We are heartbroken by the untimely passing of our friend Carrie Fisher.  She will, however, remain alive forever through her art, her words, her many kindnesses and her love.” Carrie’s latest book, THE PRINCESS DIARIST, was published by Blue Rider on November 22, 2016. She is also the author of four bestselling novels – Surrender the Pink, Delusions of Grandma, The Best Awful, and Postcards from the Edge – as well as two other memoirs, Shockaholic and Wishful Drinking.  Her talent with words also made her one of the most sought after script writers in Hollywood.  Beyond Star Wars, she appeared in countless films, including Shampoo and When Harry Met Sally as well as television, including 30 Rock and, most recently, Catastrophe. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Carrie’s family, friends and millions of fans around the world.
Scott Simon, the award-winning journalist and NPR host, will write a book about the Chicago Cubs for Blue Rider Press, it was announced this week. Part club history, part personal history, part reflection on what it means to be a Cubs fan, the untitled book will be published in April 2017.  World rights were acquired by Blue Rider Press president and publisher David Rosenthal from Wayne Kabak of WSK Management, LLC. scott-simon “I am excited to be able to write this book about what is, after all, the longest-running love of my life.  Cubs fans have shared a special joy with the country this year.” said Simon. “But the secret we’ve carried for more than a century is that even through all the fiascos, farces, and screw-ups, Cubs fans usually manage to find a way to have a good time anyway. The key to a happy life may be somewhere in there.” On July 31, 2016, Simon threw out the first pitch at a Cubs vs. Mariners game, which the Cubs won in twelve innings and then began a thirteen-game win streak that solidified their hold on first place.   It’s reported that Aroldis Chapman’s reaction to Simon’s pitch from the bullpen was: “Asi es como se hace!” (“So that’s how it’s done!”) Simon is one of America’s most admired writers and broadcasters, having reported from all over the world and many wars. He is the award-winning host of Weekend Edition Saturday. With over 4 million listeners it is the most-listened to news program on NPR. Simon has written seven books including the recently published, Just Getting Started, with Tony Bennett, and has one of the largest personal media followings on Twitter. He also hosts public television specials and does stories for CBS Sunday Morning.  Scott received the Order of Lincoln from the State of Illinois in 2016, the state’s highest honor.
This week’s Igloo Book Buzz selection is Carrie Fisher’s THE PRINCESS DIARIST, published by Blue Rider Press on Tuesday (11/22).  David Rosenthal, President & Publisher of Blue Rider Press, edited the book, and says, “If it weren’t for her fame in the Star Wars movies, Carrie Fisher might be best known as a writer.  With novels like Postcards from the Edge and The Best Awful, and memoirs like Wishful Drinking, Carrie has established herself as a singular comedic voice, tinged with the sadness of modern living. While some of the early press on THE PRINCESS DIARIST has focused on Carrie’s revelations about her relationship with Harrison Ford four decades ago, her book brilliantly dissects the questions of fame, aging and longing for connections in Hollywood (and in our families).”   Carrie Fisher With her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, Fisher became one of the world’s most famous pop-culture icons.  As she prepared to return to the Star Wars series in 2015, Fisher made a most interesting discovery—three long-forgotten journals she had kept during the making of the first Star Wars film in 1976. Filled with the musings, insights, and witticisms of her nineteen-year-old self, they also document an affair with one of her co-stars that has never been revealed until now, with the publication of THE PRINCESS DIARIST. “I’ve rarely talked about being Leia at length—not deliberately in any event,” Fisher writes. She definitely corrects that state of affairs with her new memoir, reflecting on how she got to be Leia, what it was like to actually play her, and how Leia has changed her life. “I’m asked about her all the time,” she writes. “How she is.  What her plans are for episodes VIII and IX.  How things are going with Harrison.” As it turns out, Harrison Ford plays a significant role in Fisher’s new book. “I’ve spent so many years not telling the story of Harrison and me having an affair on the first Star Wars movie that it’s difficult to know exactly how to tell it now,” she writes. “I suppose I’m writing this because it’s forty years later and whoever we there then—superficially at least—we no longer are now. Whoever I might have infuriated then wouldn’t have the energy to be infuriated now. And even if they did, I wouldn’t have the energy to feel as guilty as I would have thirty or twenty or—well, there’s no way I could’ve written it even ten years ago.” Harrison Ford, Carrie Fishe Lest she be accused of kissing and telling without warning or scruple, Fisher notes that, before disclosing anything that is possibly someone else’s secret to tell, she first lets that person know about her intention. “I don’t want to make anyone else look stupid,” she writes. “That’s a privilege I reserve for myself.” Besides, she says, if she hadn’t written about it, someone else would have. Someone without Read more...
Brant Rumble, Senior Editor, Blue Rider Press, opens a fascinating window into this week’s Igloo Book Buzz title, Mike Love’s GOOD VIBRATIONS, published by Blue Rider Press today:  “The story of the Beach Boys is as rich as that of any band in music history, and Mike Love has lived every moment of it. To sit with him and his collaborator Jim Hirsch and hear the stories firsthand was awe-inspiring—from the early breakthrough success to the artistic achievements of Pet Sounds and ‘Good Vibrations’ to the darker and more challenging times. “Mike is an optimist and a workhorse, two qualities that have carried him through more than five decades of writing, recording, and performing; and also two qualities that are essential when it comes to working on a book. The result is a memoir that is quite revealing and an important document that I believe readers and fans will devour.” Mike Love has this to say about his book: “I’ve had an incredible life with a lot of triumphs, my share of heartbreak and some pretty amazing experiences. There are a lot of things I haven’t shared before, and I’m looking forward to opening up about my life and my work in this book. It’s a story about family, music, a country in transition, and audiences all over the world coming together in harmony.”  Love kicks off the GOOD VIBRATIONS publicity tour in NYC at Barnes & Noble Union Square tonight, featuring a Q&A and signing, as well as a performance by the Beach Boys. Media highlights include The O’Reilly Factor, CBS This Morning, The View, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal’s “Anatomy of a Song,” Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and much more to come.
Publicity for GOOD VIBRATIONS by Mike Love kicked off last week with an exclusive feature in People, including an excerpt, cover line, five-page spread, photos, and online book trailer reveal—on stands 9/2-9/9 or read it here. The book goes on sale next Tuesday (9/13), Love will kick off the publicity tour at Barnes & Noble Union Square, featuring a Q&A, performance by the Beach Boys, and signing. Media highlights include The O’Reilly Factor, CBS This Morning, The View, USA Today, Rolling Stone,Wall Street Journal’s “Anatomy of a Song,” Vanity Fair, and The New York Times, and much more.  GOOD VIBRATIONS is a half a century’s work of insider info on one of the most famous bands in rock—not to be missed.
Excitement is building at Blue Rider Press for the release of critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling author Marisa Silver’s LITTLE NOTHING, launching this Tuesday, September 13. Hauntingly beautiful and achingly hopeful, LITTLE NOTHING is the story of Pavla, a child scorned for her physical deformity, whose passion and salvation lie in her otherworldly ability to transform herself and the world around her. With an eight-city book tour, Silver will hit the ground running, joining in eagerly awaited conversations with authors such as Mark Sarvas, Sarah Bynum, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney and Jennifer Gilmore, just to name a few. Featured in Elle’s “Best of September,” The Huffington Post’s “Fall must-reads”, Lit Hub’s “18 Books to read in September”, and The Millions’ “Most Anticipated of Fall”, LITTLE NOTHING is already gaining national attention. Look for reviews in The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, the LA Review of Books, The Millions, Barnes & Noble Review, and original essays with Powell’s and other outlets to come.
Blue Rider Press published HEAD BALL COACH: My Life in Football, Doing It Differently and Winning by Steve Spurrier, with Buddy Martin, on Tuesday, August 30.  This launch has been accompanied by a strong rush of media coverage for Spurrier and his book, in which college football’s most colorful, endearing, and successful pioneer shares his story of a life in football — from growing up in Tennessee to winning the Heisman Trophy to playing and coaching in the pros to leading the Florida Gators to six SEC Championships and a National Championship to elevating the South Carolina program to new heights — and coaching like nobody else.  Here are key media highlights: ESPN.com ran an excerpt on August 25.   The New York Times featured an interview with Spurrier in the Sports section on 8/28.  The book was mentioned in the “Scorecard” section of the August 14 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.  Spurrier was interviewed on ESPN “Car Wash,” on 8/30, with segments on top ESPN shows, including SportsCenter, Mike & Mike, First Take and College Football Live.  We also interviewed on FOX & Friends, FOX News Radio and FOX Business Network’s Varney & Co. on 8/31.  A Satellite Radio Tour with top national and regional sports radio shows scheduled is for the morning of September 1. Upcoming:  NPR’s The Takeaway (interview is rescheduled for 9/6) and a feature in The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy section (run-date TK). Coach Spurrier will receive special recognition at Florida Gators home football game for the 50th Anniversary of his receiving the Heisman Trophy and University of Florida recently announced the renaming of the field to  Steve Spurrier-Florida Field. He will be signing at the following venues, with hundreds of fans expected: Barnes & Noble in Ocala, FL @ 6:00 pm (9/1); Follett / University of Florida Bookstore @ 2;00 pm – September 3 (This signing is prior to Florida Gators’ first college football game where Spurrier is being honored); College Football Hall of Fame @ Noon (9/7); Atlanta JCC @ 6:30 pm (9/7); Books-a-Million in Columbia, SC @ 6pm (9/8).
James Carville’s WE’RE STILL RIGHT, THEY’RE STILL WRONG: The Democrats’ Case for 2016 went on sale this Tuesday (8/23) from Blue Rider Press. Some unforgettable media highlights include this panel on Morning Joe, a Facebook livestream interview with Business Insider, and a debate with Ann Coulter on Nightline. He also made appearances on The Today Show, Imus in the Morning, Yahoo News, WNYC’s Leonard Lopate, AC360, All In with Chris Hayes, and Bloomberg’s All Due Respect. Expect plenty more from the Ragin’ Cajun!
9780143109396

Congratulations to William Finnegan and his memoir, Barbarian Days, for winning the Biography 2016 Pulitzer Prize!

Barbarian Days is William Finnegan’s memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates, it is something else: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life.

Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. Barbarian Days takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds, some of them right under our noses—off the coasts of New York and San Francisco. It immerses the reader in the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships forged in challenging waves.

Finnegan shares stories of life in a whites-only gang in a tough school in Honolulu. He shows us a world turned upside down for kids and adults alike by the social upheavals of the 1960s. He details the intricacies of famous waves and his own apprenticeships to them. Youthful folly—he drops LSD while riding huge Honolua Bay, on Maui—is served up with rueful humor. As Finnegan’s travels take him ever farther afield, he discovers the picturesque simplicity of a Samoan fishing village, dissects the sexual politics of Tongan interactions with Americans and Japanese, and navigates the Indonesian black market while nearly succumbing to malaria. Throughout, he surfs, carrying readers with him on rides of harrowing, unprecedented lucidity.

Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road movie, and an extraordinary exploration of the gradual mastering of an exacting, little-understood art.

Read more about this book here.











PEN New England has announced that Penguin Random House author Ottessa Moshfegh is the winner of the 2016 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction for her novel EILEEN (Penguin Press). Moshfegh will receive a $25,000 prize from the Hemingway family and the Hemingway Society as well as a one-week residency and $5,000 honorarium from the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series at the University of Idaho’s MFA Creative Writing Program. In addition, Moshfegh will receive a Residency Fellowship at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, a retreat for artists and writers.

Patrick Hemingway, the son of Ernest Hemingway, will present this award to Moshfegh on April 10 at a ceremony in Boston. Writer and critic James Wood will be the keynote speaker. This year’s judges were Alexandra Marshall, former PEN/Hemingway winner Joshua Ferris, and Penguin Random House author Jay Parini. In selecting Moshfegh as the 2016 winner, they praised her for her “prowess and her promise.”

9781594206627
Mary Hemingway founded the PEN/Hemingway award in 1976 to honor the legacy of her husband Ernest Hemingway. The PEN/Hemingway Award is given for a novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction.

Moshfegh joins notable PEN/Hemingway winners and nominees including Penguin Random House authors Jhumpa Lahiri, Colson Whitehead, ZZ Packer, George Saunders, Ha Jin, Junot Díaz, Yiyun Li, and Teju Cole.

Read more about EILEEN here.
http://www.penguin.com/newsroom/
www.penguin.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-30
86959
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:DOEZ624FLTIODDUF3WYQ2EMWX5EEG4SA
<urn:uuid:85da615b-55be-4f93-b9eb-9f6085262d0a>
2018-07-17T08:01:54Z
170.171.208.157
text/html
sha1:XMMWQ76KXNY2XSE7LL3BJMGGQDAAOSWR
<urn:uuid:9659d8a8-4cd2-427c-b52a-db0bf91ba5a8>
http://www.penguin.com/newsroom/
response
<urn:uuid:40351662-fe7c-4929-9224-3a4cfd4c3dc9>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-146-48-27.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-30
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for July 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf