Today @ Penguin
The Help, Moneyball, and more clean up Oscar nominations
The Help, the film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's smash #1 international bestseller, picked up four Oscar nominations earlier this week, including a nod for Best Picture. The other nominations came in the acting categories, with Viola Davis up for Best Actress and Octavia Spencer (already a Golden Globe Award winner) and Jessica Chastain both nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Moneyball, based on the sports memoir by Michael Lewis, leads the Penguin Oscar list with six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Brad Pitt received a nod for his portrayal of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, while Jonah Hill was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
The film based upon John le Carre's spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy received three nominations for Best Lead Actor (Gary Oldman), Best Original Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Oscar winners will be announced on Sunday, February 26, when the 84th Academy Awards are broadcast on ABC.
Sequel to Bride of New France to be published by Penguin Canada
Penguin Canada has acquired the sequel to the national bestseller Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers, a Globe and Mail Top 100 book for 2011 and a Quill & Quire Book of the Year.
Quill & Quire's citation reads: "In her first novel, Suzanne Desrochers recreates the brutal and often cruel circumstances [the filles du roi] endured, combining imaginative insight with meticulous research. Its strength, however, lies in tracing the unique contours of one woman's life against a dramatic backdrop, making it a bookseller favourite and one of the year's unqualified word-of-mouth successes."
Commissioning editor Adrienne Kerr says, "Canadian women are increasingly captivated by novels that explore the lives and struggles of their female ancestors, and Bride of New France has tapped into that rich vein."
Read the full press release.
Bomb Girls’ Meg Tilly to be published by Penguin
Lynne Missen, Publishing Director for Penguin Young Readers in Canada, has acquired A Taste of Heaven, a middle-grade novel by Meg Tilly, who stars as Lorna in the new television series Bomb Girls, debuting on Global television this week.
Almost 30 years ago, Tilly burst onto film screens with The Big Chill and then Agnes of God, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe. She returned to acting this summer, knocking out the critics with her onstage performance of Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Next April she will star in Tarragon Theatre’s production of The Real World? by Michel Tremblay.
In A Taste of Heaven, fourth-grader Madison Stokes hasn’t found just that right friend yet. The one whose friendship makes you feel all’s right with the world, the one who gives you that warm feeling inside. When a new girl named Alyssa Hawkins arrives in Rosedale, she and Madison immediately strike up a close friendship. Alyssa always seems perfectly happy to spend time with Madison and her family, including Madison’s rather annoying five-year-old sister Gina, but she never invites Madison over to her own house. Ever. Is Alyssa ashamed of Madison?
Read the full press release.
John Green's latest on sale
John Green embarks on an epic 17-city U.S. road trip for The Fault in Our Stars,"Electric...filled with stacco bursts of humor and tragedy."
Green will be joined on the road by his brother Hank Green, a musician and the co-founder of their Vlogbrothers YouTube channel. Green will visit Vancouver for an event on January 31. This event at UBC (a 500 seat venue) is already sold out. The event is presented by the Vancouver International Writers Festival.
Since the The Fault in Our Stars was first announced in June, shooting to #1 on both Amazon and BN.com, the road to publication has been nothing short of ground-breaking with Green signing each and every copy of the 150,000 first print run.
The Tiger Mom is back
The paperback of Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which debuted at #25 on The New York Times non fiction paperback extended bestseller list, is generating a new wave of national attention.
A Chua-penned op-ed essay ran in the Christmas Eve edition of The Wall Street Journal, headlined: "Tiger Mom's Long-Distance Cub; Amy Chua on how she has handled her daughter's departing the den for college. Drilling and discipline from afar? No, not even a growl." More national media this week: Chua appeared on The Today Show on January 3, was interviewed on CNN's Erin Burnett Out Front, and will be a guest on Fox & Friends.
Read an excerpt from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.
Hotly anticipated new book from William Gibson
Named by Lev Grossman as the #1 book he is looking forward to in 2012, William Gibson's new collection of essays hit stores on January 3. Kirkus called the book "a provocative, surprising look at the lesser-known parts of a sci-fi superstar’s writing career," and Booklist said it was "sharp and entertaining." Gibson will be doing local events in Victoria and Vancouver, and he will also travel to Toronto on January 12 for an event at the TPL Salon.
These essays and articles have never been collected, until now. Some have never appeared in print at all. In addition, Distrust That Particular Flavor includes journalism from small publishers, online sources, and magazines no longer in existence. This volume will be essential reading for any lover of William Gibson's novels. Distrust That Particular Flavor offers readers a privileged view into the mind of a writer whose thinking has shaped not only a generation of writers but our entire culture.
Memoir of fatherhood longlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize
Joel Yanofsky's acclaimed memoir has picked up another accolade, this time a place on the Charles Taylor Literary Non-Fiction Prize longlist. The shortlist will be announced on January 10.
Earlier this fall, Yanofsky was shortlisted for the BC Book Prize (the winner will be announced in early February 2012). And he won the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, awarded by the Quebec Federation of Writers.
A veteran book reviewer, Yanofsky has spent a lifetime immersed in literature (not to mention old movies and old jokes), which he calls shtick. This account of a year in the life of a family describes a father's struggle to enter his son's world, the world of autism, using the materials he knows best: self-help books, feel-good memoirs, literary classics from the Bible to Dr. Seuss, old movies, and, yes, shtick. Funny, wrenching, and unfailingly candid, Bad Animals is both an exploration of a baffling condition and a quirky love story told by a gifted writer.
Dragon Tattoo film hits theatres December 21
Anticipation for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film is heating up, with the film tie-in already on sale.
In film news, 35 new images have been released. Global clothing retailer H&M is releasing a tie-in clothing line, inspired by Lisbeth's punky duds, and a clear indication of the hype surrounding the movie's imminent release. Today, the entire collection was released to the web .
Also released today is a free 6-track sampler of the soundtrack by Trent Reznor, free to download!
David Fincher's highly anticipated U.S. film adaptation, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, is scheduled for release on December 21.
Penguin books on Globe 100 list
The Globe and Mail announced its prestigious Globe 100 list this past Saturday. The list contains its picks for the best books of 2011. In fiction, bestseller Bride of New France, Giller shortlister Better Living Through Plastic Explosives, The Uncoupling, The Magician King, and The Grief of Others were all named.
In non-fiction, Moonwalking with Einstein, Tommy Douglas, One Hundred Names for Love, The Last Act, Incognito, The Swerve, Boomerang, and The End were all named.
Read the full article here.
Rules of Civility on Canada AM
Heather Reisman, the CEO of Indigo Books, touted Rules of Civility as one of her top Christmas recommendations this morning on Canada AM (Canada's top morning program). She said it was actually her husband's pick and recommended it for both men and women.
O, the Oprah Magazine has chosen Rules of Civlity as one of the top fiction books of the year. View the article here. The book has also been named an Indigo Heather's Pick and it was reviewed in Chatelaine.
Rules of Civility is a sophisticated and entertaining debut novel about an irresistible young woman with an uncommon sense of purpose. Set in New York City in 1938, the novel tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year old named Katey Kontent. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future.
O, the Oprah Magazine picks Rules of Civility as a top fiction book of 2011
O, the Oprah Magazine has chosen Rules of Civlity as one of the top fiction books of the year. View the article here. The book has also been named an Indigo Heather's Pick and it was reviewed in Chatelaine.
Media response has been phenomenal. People magazine has endorsed Rules of Civility, giving it 3.5 out of 4 stars. The debut buzz book was tagged on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine, and it was selected as July's "Unputdownable Read" for Oprah's Book Club. An excerpt was also posted online. A New York Times review is to come.
In the U.S., bookseller reviews are glowing. Said Amada Friss of Three Lives Bookstore in NYC, "This novel is so completely satisfying in all the ways I want a book to be satisfying. It has great characters, is a good story, well told and well written, and effortlessly transports the reader to another world."
Read an author interview, excerpt, and more at Penguin.ca.
Salvage the Bones and The Swerve win National Book Awards
The National Book Awards 2011 winners were announced in New York City on Wednesday, November 16. Penguin Canada distributes both the winner for fiction, Salvage the Bones, and the winner for non-fiction, The Swerve.
Salvage the Bones is a gritty but tender novel about family and poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. The Swerve is by one of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt, who tells the story of one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, that changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it.
Learn more about the awards and finalists at the National Book Awards website.
Don Tapscott and Ken Robinson named as part of "top 50" business thinkers in the world
Bestselling Penguin author Don Tapscott was recently named one of four Canadians among the world's top 50 business thinkers.
The elite list compiled by Thinkers50 ranks business gurus accordining to the quality and impact of their ideas. Tapscott ranked 9th, hitting the top 10 for the first time. Tapscott is a guru for the digital age, a bestselling author, and a Rotman adjunct professor. His most recent book is Macrowikinomics, preceded by Wikinomics.
Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, came in at #43 (view Sir Ken Robinson's Top 50 Thinkers profile).
View the full list here.
Awesome author Neil Pasricha is back for the holidays
There's nothing like the holidays. They bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in everyone. Luckily, #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author Neil Pasricha is here to remind us that not only are the holidays great but there's actually even more to celebrate than we realize. On sale on November 15, The Book of (Holiday) Awesome will show you why holidays are AWESOME!
A terrific piece ran in the December issue of Toronto Life (on stands now) featuring the book. Pasricha and Jessica Holmes (from Royal Canadian Air Farce fame) met over coffee to talk about surviving the holidays.
Pasricha will be at Chapters Brampton on Wednesday, November 16 and Oshawa on November 19. See full details here.
Stuart McLean tours Canada
Originally published in hardcover to coincide with the Vinyl Cafe's 15th anniversary, this wonderful collection, now in paperback, gives a glimpse into the thoughtful mind at work behind the popular show. As of last week, the book was #7 on The Globe and Mail non-fiction paperback bestseller list!
McLean will embark shortly on the Vinyl Cafe Christmas Concert Tour, visiting Hamilton, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Ottawa, Montreal, and many more cities. View the full schedule here.
A winter 2012 tour is also in the works, which will see McLean visiting Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. Tickets for this tour will be on sale this Saturday (November 12), with a few going on sale the next Saturday (November 19). View the full schedule here.
Booksellers list Robert J. Sawyer and Lesley Livingston as top picks for 2011
Canada's leading futurist, Robert Sawyer's final book in his Wake Watch Wonder trilogy was named the top booksellers' pick in the science fiction and fantasy catagory by Quill and Quire.
"Sawyer is huge in Canada, so that doesn't surprise me," said Bakka Phoenix Books manager Chris Szego, as quoted in the Quill and Quire.
Booksellers chose Once Every Never by bestselling author Lesley Livingston as their top seller in the YA science fiction and fantasy catagory. Szego said of this title, "We've sold as many of Lesley's books as we have The Hunger Games. That's a thrill for us."
Read the full article.
Penguin Canada to publish 1982 by Jian Ghomeshi
Toronto, October 31, 2011 — Publishing Director Diane Turbide has acquired rights to 1982 by Jian Ghomeshi, a literary memoir based on a 14-year-old's desire to be David Bowie. Set in one year of his life, and to the confusion and alarm of his Iranian parents, Ghomeshi tries to transform himself into a New Waver, determined to be the perfect guy to win the heart of an older woman — 16-year-old Wendy, the girl he considers to be the female Bowie of Thornhill, Ontario.
Read the full press release here
Canada Reads Top 10 announced
The CBC Canada Reads Top 10 were announced this week and Penguin Canada has two books on the list: Marina Nemat's Prisoner of Tehran and Ryan Knighton's Cockeyed.
Prisoner of Tehran is the beloved and bestselling memoir by Marina Nemat. In 1982, 16-year-old Marina Nemat was arrested on false charges by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and tortured in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. An extraordinary tale of faith and survival, Prisoner of Tehran is a testament to the power of love in the face of evil and injustice.
Cockeyed is an irreverent, tragicomic, astoundingly articulate memoir about going blind, and growing up. It was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor in 2007.
The final books and panelists will be revealed on November 23.
William Shatner embarks on six city speaking tour across Canada
Headlines abound as the one and only William Shatner lands in Canada for a multi-city tour, gracing the cover of the November issue of ZOOMER magazine (on-stands now) and playing the role of Guest Editor for the Toronto Star's Entertainment Section tomorrow. Coverage will include an excerpt and much more. Check out a sneak peak on the Toronto Star's dedicated Shatner page on their website.
Canadian Tour Dates
October 19 – Vancouver, British Columbia – The Centre for Performing Arts
October 21 – Regina, Saskatchewan – Conexus Arts Centre
October 23 – Edmonton, Alberta – Shaw Conference Centre
October 25 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Centennial Concert Hall
November 3 – Toronto, Ontario – Massey Hall
November 4 – Montreal, Quebec – Place des Arts
For further info, visit: http://www.behindtheicon.net/shatner.htm.
Trekkie or not: don't miss out on this iconic Canadian's reflections on a life of exploring new frontiers.
IFOA update
This week, Penguin welcomes an A-list of authors to Toronto for the IFOA, including 2011 Giller Prize shortlisted author Zsuzsi Gartner, past Giller winners Johanna Skibsrud and Joseph Boyden, D.W. Wilson, Lev Grossman, Amitav Ghosh, Joe Dunthorne, Will Ferguson, Clay Shirky, Douglas Coupland, Kathy Reichs, Meg Wolitzer, and Helen Oyeyemi.
Skibsrud kicks off Penguin Canada's stellar IFOA line up on Friday, October 21, with a reading from her already critically acclaimed short story collection, This Will Be Difficult to Explain. Skibsrud is joined on stage by U.K. writer Harry Whitehead, author of the debut novel The Cannibal Spirit. Canadian literary star Joseph Boyden reads from his Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning novel Through Black Spruce on Wednesday, October 26.
Penguin is thrilled to participate in McLuhan 100, a series of readings and interviews in honour of the 100th birthday of media theorist Marshall McLuhan at this year's IFOA. Penguin participants include Clay Shirky, Brooke Gladstone, and Douglas Coupland.
Stand-outs at this year's Young IFOA are New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer and Kathy Reichs, forensic anthropologist and author of the Bones series.
Read the full press release here.
Forest of Reading nominees announced
 |  |  |
The Ontario Library Association has released its shortlists for the 2012 Forest of Reading program. The winners (chosen by Ontario schoolchildren) will be made public during the Forest of Reading Festival next May.
For the Red Maple award (grades 7-8), Penguin has Dust City by Robert Paul Weston, Fly Boy by Eric Walters, and Haunting Violent by Alyxandra Harvey. For the White Pine Fiction award (grades 9-12), Penguin has Something Wicked by Lesley Anne Cowan. For the White Pine Non-Fiction award (grades 9-12), Penguin has The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha and Nice Recovery by Susan Juby.
Read the full list of nominees at the OLA website.
Zsuzsi Gartner makes Giller shortlist
Zsuzsi Gartner's Better Living Through Plastic Explosives has been shortlisted for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize, as was announced in Toronto last week.
Published by Hamish Hamilton Canada in April 2011 to overwhelming critical acclaim, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives is the work of a modern master at the top of her game.
The Vancouver Sun says, "Gartner is fall-out-of-your-chair funny, but the hilarity has a splendid whack of asperity to it for a great combination." The Globe and Mail calls her "an inventive stylist and an old-school fabulist ... She can go from sardonic to plangent, wry to heartfelt, in a couple of clauses."
Gartner will appear at the Vancouver International Writers Festival and at Calgary Wordfest in October.
The Magicians to be adapted into a TV series on FOX
Fox is planning to adapt Lev Grossman's The Magicians into a TV drama series. It will be written by X-Men: First Class and Thor co-writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, and produced by Michael London (Milk), Shawn Levy, and Michael Adelstein. Deadline Hollywood reported on the deal.
A New York Times bestseller, The Magician King recently received a rave review in The Globe and Mail. The review called the book "a breakneck read" and mentioned it within the context of the greater fantasy craze right now, including the Harry Potter films and HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.
The Magician King is the riveting sequel to The New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon of 2009, The Magicians.
Extraordinary Canadians TV series launches Oct 23 on CityTV and Bio
 |
The long awaited Extraordinary Canadians Television Series launches nationwide on Citytv and the Biography Channel on October 23, and in three languages on OMNI TV in Spring 2012. Nicely timed for holiday gift giving, the full series is available in hardcover, and the first six books have released in paperback. There is already an Extraordinary Canadian channel on Youtube.
The series of biographies has received unprecedented critical acclaim. The Globe and Mail said of Norman Bethune, "Perhaps the most inspired pairing of author and subject in Penguin Canada's Extraordinary Canadians series to date." Learn more at extraordinarycanadians.com.
Stars of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo make cover of Empire
Empire magazine was the only publication on set for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film, and its cover featuring the stars has been released (see left).
The Stratford Festival also recently awarded star Christopher Plummer a Lifetime Achievement Award; he appeared on The George Stroumboulopoulos show in August.
A new trailer was released this week for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that offers a more complete picture of what the hotly anticipated film will look and sound like. View the trailer.
A surprise eight-minute preview trailer has also been playing in theatres before screenings of Moneyball and Straw Dogs.
David Fincher's highly anticipated U.S. film adaptation, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, is scheduled for release on December 21.
Don't miss the 18 character biographies on the official film website for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The photography evokes the sinister atmosphere of the website. Read more here. Also check out the Mouth Taped Shut blog that's been getting tons of press. It offers an insider look at the film.
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy film news
The Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy film opens in select markets in Canada on December 9, but readers can get the tie-in edition on October 25.
The film premiered to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, and The New York Times featured the film on September 18 in its fall movie previews. The Guardian said of the film, "A marvellously chill and acrid Cold War thriller from Swedish director Tomas Alfredson. Right here, right now, it's the film to beat at this year's festival. Oldman gives a deliciously delicate, shaded performance, flitting in and out of the wings like some darting grey lizard."
The film, which stars Gary Oldman and Academy Award-winner Colin Firth, should be a contender for all the major awards.
D.W. Wilson wins the BBC’s 2011 Short Story Prize
Debut author D.W. Wilson has won the BBC’s 2011 Short Story Prize, and he was honoured this week at an event in London. The National Post touted his win as part of its ongoing feature interview coming in October!), as did the Canadian Press and The Globe and Mail. Read reviews in the National Post and the Montreal Gazette.
The Globe and Mail will also feature an as yet unpublished story from Wilson on their website as part of their coverage. Wilson will appear at the International Festival of Authors and at the Vancouver International Writers Festival at the end of the month.
Neil Young's memoir to be published by Penguin
Neil Young, one of the most iconic and important musical figures of the last half-century, will write his memoir, it was announced this week.
Young's book, tentatively titled Waging Heavy Peace, will be published in North America by Blue Rider Press, a member of the Penguin Group, in fall of 2012.
"I felt like writing books fit me like a glove; I started and I just kept going. That's the way my daddy used to do it on his old Underwood up in the attic. He said, 'Just keep writing, you never know what will turn up'," Mr. Young said of his newest project.
"Neil's extraordinary music and his influence on American culture is singular," said Blue Rider Press President and Publisher David Rosenthal, who also acquired and published Bob Dylan's Chronicles, Vol. I. "This promises to be a revealing, intimate book that will provide the window into Neil's life and career that fans and admirers have always wanted."
Tom Clancy’s All Stars are back in a new book called Locked On
Tom Clancy is America's, and the world’s, favourite international thriller author. Starting with The Hunt for Red October, all of his previous books have hit #1 on The New York Times bestseller list.
A new book from Clancy will hit shelves on December 13, just in time for the holiday season. The title is Locked On, and the cover (at left) has just been released.
After a seven-year absence, he made a triumphant return last year with Dead or Alive and Against All Enemies, his 14th and 15th consecutive #1 bestsellers. The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears have been made into major motion pictures. He lives in Maryland, where he is a co-owner of the Baltimore Orioles.
Dead or Alive will be available in paperback on September 27.
New theatrical trailer released for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
A new trailer was released this week for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that offers a more complete picture of what the hotly anticipated film will look and sound like. View the trailer. A surprise eight-minute preview trailer has also been playing in theatres before screenings of Moneyball and Straw Dogs.
David Fincher's highly anticipated U.S. film adaptation, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, is scheduled for release on December 21. A movie tie-in will be released on November 1 (strict on-sale).
Don't miss the 18 character biographies on the official film website for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The photography evokes the sinister atmosphere of the website. Read more here (the link is in the top left of the site). Also check out the Mouth Taped Shut blog that's been getting tons of press. It offers an insider look at the film.
Zsuzsi Gartner nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
Zsuzsi Gartner’s Better Living Through Plastic Explosives has been nominated for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Published by Hamish Hamilton Canada in April 2011 to overwhelming critical acclaim, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives is the work of a modern master at the top of her game.
The Vancouver Sun says "Gartner is fall-out-of-your-chair funny, but the hilarity has a splendid whack of asperity to it for a great combination." The Globe and Mail calls her "an inventive stylist and an old-school fabulist ... She can go from sardonic to plangent, wry to heartfelt, in a couple of clauses."
Gartner will appear at the Vancouver International Writers Festival and at Calgary Wordfest in October.
Read the full press release.
Sign up for the Chef Michael Smith cookcast!
This week Chef Michael Smith ’s Kitchen: 100 of My Favourite Easy Recipes went on sale and the media and marketing for the book are ramping up for the fall.
September 22 will mark the first ever Canadian Cookcast with Michael Smith in association with Canadian Living (sign up here). On that date, Canadians can go to the designated website and cook live with Michael and Canadian Living’s Food Director Annabelle Waugh. Canadian Living is supporting this project with editorial coverage of the event in its December issue, an event email to Canadian Living Advantage subscribers (60,000 subscribers), an editorial mention in Canadian Living’s Food for Friend e-newsletter (100,000 subscribers), advertising on the Canadian Living website, and social media promotion.
Marketing for the book includes 2000 postcards distributed at Smith's recent CNE event and via bookstores; a full-page, full-colour ad in The Globe and Mail (September 10); a full-page, full-colour ad in The New York Times Book Review, distributed through the Toronto Star (September 11); Books for Everybody advertising; Atlantic Books Today advertising; an event ad in the Ottawa Festival program;, and online contests via FoodNetwork.ca newsletters, social media, and its website.
Confirmed media includes mention in Best Health magazine's October issue, recipes and the book cover on houseandhomemedia.com, a print interview and recipe in the December issue of Reader ’s Digest, a Breakfast Television appearance on September 12, a Canada AM appearance on October 17, and much more!
Moneyball screens at TIFF
Screening this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, Moneyball is "every inch the workplace drama that 'Mad Men' is."
Based on the Michael Lewis novel, published by W.W. Norton, and starring Brad Pitt and Robin Wright, Moneyball is picking up big press in Canada this week and opening in theatres nationwide on September 23.
According to a review posted today on Moviefone's blog, when Brad Pitt optioned Moneyball, the book's author famously told him, "I don't know how you're going to make it into a movie, but feel free to give it a try."
In the movie, Pitt plays Billy Beane, the charismatic owner of the Oakland A's. Moviefone says that audiences may look back on this deceptively quiet film and realize that "like a pitcher's duel on a long summer day, it meant more than they realized, and maybe more than anyone had a right to expect." Watch the trailer.
Homelessness: How to End the National Crisis by Jack Layton (1950-2011)
"His leadership in fighting against homelessness and for our environment both resulted in permanent change for the better. He has left a national legacy."
-Former Toronto mayor David Miller
Jack Layton first wrote about homelessness in the late 1990's, finding communities across Canada had been, in a very real sense, left to grapple with a growing crisis with little support from the federal government.
Layton, the former leader of the federal New Democratic Party and a veteran social activist, took a critical look at the reality of the situation, examined the root causes of the crisis, and surveyed the impact of homelessness in every province of the country. Moreover, in trademark style, he talked to the homeless, looking beyond despair and dismissal for a lasting solution to what is largely a hidden epidemic in Canada.
Revised and updated in 2008, Homelessness was Jack Layton's call to Canadians to end the rise of mass homelessness in Canada and the growing crisis in affordable housing.
Layton's torch will now be carried by every person who believes in a better tomorrow, every person who believes in dignity for our seniors and better opportunity for our youth, and by every person who believes through working together, we can make our great country even better.
Read the press release.
Visit the new Penguin Classics Canada website!
In celebration of the 65th anniversary of Penguin Classics, a series of limited edition skateboard decks was created, featuring two of our finest Penguin Classics covers. We know our fans love great books, but we also know that your interests don't stop there!
We want to see photos of your favourite Penguin Classic book taken with a skateboard. To be entered to win, submit a photo that features both a Penguin Classic book and a skateboard. The winner will be drawn on or about September 30 and the winner announced shortly after. Enter the contest here.
Penguin books on the Globe Books fall preview
 |  |  |  |
Last Saturday's Fall Books Preview in The Globe and Mail listed three of Penguin's titles (Civilization by Niall Ferguson, The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker and Boomerang by Michael Lewis) in their Top 10 Must Reads for the fall. Jessica Gamble's The Siesta and the Midnight Sun received special mention as a potential sleeper hit. Read the full article.
Pinker will tour Canada this fall. In November, he will do four major events in three cities, and national and local media are already lining up. On November 17, he will appear at McGill's New Residence (capacity: 500 people). On November 19, he will be at the Ottawa Writer's Festival at the Southminster United Church (15 Aylmer Ave. at Bank St.) at 7 p.m. (capacity: 700 people). The event will be advertised and promoted in all of the fall festival marketing materials.
On November 20, Pinker will be part of the Ben McNally Books and Brunch (capacity: 250 people), and on November 21, he will be the headliner at a U of T Rotman School event.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest: in paperback September 6
The final novel in Stieg Larsson's phenomenally bestselling trilogy is on sale in paperback on September 6. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was Penguin Canada's bestselling hardcover book ever.
David Fincher's highly anticipated U.S. film adaptation of the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, is scheduled for release this December; view the trailer and art on the film's website.
The Help is the #1 fiction book in Canada
This year's fiction phenomenon is undoubtedly The Help. It's currently #1 on The Globe and Mail bestseller list, and is in its 19th week on the list (in paperback). With the film version of The Help releasing this week (August 10), the stellar media coverage and praise continues.
The Canadian reviews for the film have been astounding, with Canada AM calling it "a wonderfully acted, heartfelt story" and the National Post saying, "Sure to be one of 2011's Oscar contenders."
680 News raved, "The Help captures a heartbreaking time beautifully, with engaging characters that pop off the screen and stay with you long after you leave the theatre."
The August 12 issue of Entertainment Weekly is dedicated to The Help. The 10-page cover story includes photos of stars Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, and Viola Davis reading the book in more than one photo and the book's cover image is featured on the front of the issue.
The People feature on Kathryn Stockett includes an interview and photo shoot with her daughter in their Atlanta home and will run in the issue on stands today. Last Friday's edition of The Wall Street Journal contains an interview with director Tate Taylor (a version of this can be found here), and an interview with Stockett ran online on August 8.
Moneyball movie to appear at TIFF
Michael Lewis's acclaimed Moneyball has been made into a feature film, which will appear in Canada this fall at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.
The film is directed by Bennett Miller (Capote) and stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics' general manager whose unorthodox approach to fielding a team had a major impact on the game. Jonah Hill and Phillip Seymour Hoffman co-star. Watch the trailer.
When Moneyball was released, Janet Maslin of The New York Times raved, "You need know absolutely nothing about baseball to appreciate the wit, snap, economy ... and incisiveness of [Moneyball]. Lewis has hit another one out of the park." Lewis is the author of the popular bestsellers Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, The Blind Side, and The Big Short.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy film art released
John le Carré's classic tale of espionage will get the big screen treatment this November with the release of a major motion picture starring Colin Firth. The electrifying first trailer has been posted online, and now the film art has been released to the public (view it here).
The movie is directed by Tomas Alfredson (of Let The Right One In, which was one of the hottest films at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year).
It also stars Gary Oldman (Harry Potter, The Dark Knight), Tom Hardy (Inception), and Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood).
Listen to CBC Radio's Writers & Company's interview with the author (part one and part two).
Penguin to publish Andrienne Clarkson's Room for All of Us to tie into Canadian Citizenship Week
One of Penguin's lead non-fiction titles for the fall is former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson's Room for All of Us: Surprising Stories of Loss and Transformation. Clarkson will embark on a national tour to promote the book participating in numerous community citizenship ceremonies sponsored by the Institute of Canadian Citizenship and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. National Citizenship Week is October 17 and 23 and Clarkson's tour will take her to Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Victoria, and Vancouver.
Written with humour, insight, and personal revelation, Room for All of Us explores the immigrant experience through some remarkable people who have helped transform Canada, including an Ismaili doctor, a Doukhobor farmer, a Holocasust survivor and a Vietnam War deserter, many of whom arrived friendless and with a sense of loss.
William Shatner to attend Toronto's Fan Expo
Back by popular demand, William Shatner will return to Toronto! Due to overwhelming requests, William Shatner will appear again at Fan Expo Canada. This year he will be bringing his movie The Captains for an exclusive screening and will be promoting his upcoming book, Shatner Rules.
A host of other top notch Penguin authors are confirmed for this August's Fan Expo in Toronto. Over 70,000 people are expected for this event running from August 25-28 at the Metro Toronto convention centre.
Heather Brewer will be in attendance, and will be promoting First Kill, the first book in the new Slayer Chronicles series, which will release on September 20. Brewer is also the author of the New York Times bestselling series The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod.
Robert Paul Weston, author of the beloved novel in verse Zorgamazoo, will be attending to promote his latest, Dust City, and award-winning science fiction author and futurist Robert J. Sawyer will be on hand to promote his WWW Trilogy. Alyxandra Harvey will be attending to promote Haunting Violet. Lesley Livingston will appear in support of Once Every Never.
Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, will also be in attendance (view the full list of Harry Potter books available from Penguin Canada).
Signed copies will also be available at the Penguin booth from Richelle Mead, Lev Grossman, and Charlaine Harris.
Sebastian Barry’s On Canaan’s Side on the Man Booker longlist
The two-time Man Booker-shortlisted author of The Secret Scripture has a new novel with Penguin on September 13, and it was announced this week that it has landed on the Man Booker longlist, with 12 other titles. The shortlist will be announced on September 6, and the prize ceremony is on October 18.
Sebastian Barry will be in Toronto on Wednesday, September 21 for an event at Harbourfront and a day of media.
Spanning nearly seven decades, from the Great Depression to World War II and the Vietnam War, On Canaan's Side is the story of a woman whose capability to love is enormous, and whose compassion, even for those who have wronged her, is astonishing.
Harry Potter fever hits Canada
Warner Brothers announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has already broken several records in the days leading up to the release of the series finale. Advance ticket sales have skyrocketed to more than $32 million, a new pre-opening record. Many midnight and first-day showtimes are already sold out across the country, despite the fact that the movie will be showing on more than 11,000 screens in 4,375 locations, a record for the Harry Potter series.
Early reviews of the film have been universally glowing. The Globe and Mail said, "This outing not only doesn't disappoint; it surpasses high expectation" and the National Post commented, "Perfectly paced and entirely satisfying. It is, dare I say?, magical."
Enter Penguin’s Harry Potter contest.
Charlaine Harris visits Toronto
Internationally bestselling author Charlaine Harris was in Toronto this past weekend for her first official book tour to Canada. Harris was promoting her new book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead Reckoning, as well as the TV tie-in edition (Dead to the World) to season four of True Blood, the HBO adaptation of her bestselling series of novels.
Harris was the Guest of Honour at the Polaris 25 Convention, running July 15 to 16 at the Sheraton Parkway North Hotel in Richmond Hill and signed books at the Indigo Toronto Eaton Centre location at 7 p.m. on July 18.
Harris was interviewed by the Toronto Star on June 25 just prior to the release of the fourth season of True Blood. She confirms that she has two more books to write in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Harris's media schedule while in Toronto included interviews in TVGuide.ca, SPACE TB, KOBO, the National Post, ET Canada, CBC Television, Postmedia newspapers, CBC Radio's Q, and more.
View photos from Charlaine’s Indigo appearance.
Sugar Ray Leonard interviewed
Legend Sugar Ray Leonard's new memoir, The Big Fight, is a brutally honest and uplifting tale that reveals in intimate detail for the first time the complex man behind the boxer.
Leonard recently did a 30-minute interview on Fan 590 and CBC Radio’s Q (listen to the interview) and was featured in a major profile in the Toronto Star. Print features in The Globe and Mail and Toronto Standard will run in the coming days.
The Big Fight takes readers behind the scenes of a notoriously corrupt sport and chronicles the evolution of a champion, as Leonard prepares for the greatest fights of his life, against Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns, and Wilfred Benitez. At the same time, Leonard fearlessly reveals his own contradictions and compulsions, his infidelity, and alcohol and cocaine abuse.
The Duchess of Cambridge presented with Anne of Green Gables
During her visit in P.E.I., Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge was delighted to receive a copy of a Puffin Classics edition of Anne of Green Gables. Several of L.M. Montgomery’s descendants were also on-hand to commemorate the very special occasion.
As highlighted in Publisher’s Weekly, “The Duchess of Cambridge, better known as Kate Middleton, is already a fashion trendsetter, but Penguin Canada will now have a chance to see if she can also be a literary trendsetter. Reports that the duchess loved the Canadian classic Anne of Green Gables as a girl and wanted to visit Prince Edward Island, the province where the series is set, have sparked a lot of interest and media attention during the royal couple’s Canadian tour.”
To watch the book presentation, click here.
Charlaine Harris in Toronto this week
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
As a follow-up to the eagerly anticipated new book by Charlaine Harris entitled Dead Reckoning, the author will be in Toronto for her first official book tour to Canada!
Harris was interviewed by the Toronto Star on June 25th just prior to the release of the 4th season of True Blood. She confirms that she has two more books to write in the Sookie Stackhouse series. As quoted in the Toronto Star "Fans of the books will know what happens in the fourth instalment vis-à-vis a certain Viking-ish vampire losing his memory and needing Sookie’s help and care . . . and you’ll see a major and quite excellent departure from the source material involving Sookie’s other vampire. Can’t have Bill fade into the background on television."
Harris will be the Guest of Honour at the Polaris 25 Convention, running July 15 to 16 at the Sheraton Parkway North Hotel in Richmond Hill and will be signing books at Indigo Toronto Eaton Centre at 7 pm on July 18.
Incognito: "Pop science writing at its absolute best"
David Eagleman’s Incognito is “pop science writing at its absolute best” says The Globe and Mail in a recent review of this intriguing and unconventional exploration of the unconscious mind’s willful influence upon both mundane and exceptional everyday life occurrences that often seem beyond our command.
Readers interested in picking the brain of America’s most imaginative neuroscientist should head over to his Goodreads.com forum where he’ll be answering reader inquires July 11 through to 15.
Eagleman, also the author of Sum, has been praised by the likes of Brian Eno and Stephen Frye. Read a fascinating profile of the Houston-based neuroscientist in The New Yorker.
Trailer for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is released
The trailer for David Fincher's highly anticipated U.S. film adaptation of the internationally bestselling phenomenon The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was leaked onto the internet recently.
The leak was reported by all major media, including CNN, the National Post and The New York Daily News. Opinion by media such as The Hollywood Reporter is that the trailer was leaked by Sony Pictures to generate publicity and was not illegally filmed in a European theatre, as some believe. It has since been removed by the request of Sony. The official trailer is now available for viewing on the website.
The background music in the trailer is a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" by Trent Reznor (of the cult band Nine Inch Nails) and Karen O (of the popular indie band the Yeah Yeah Yeah's). Reznor is scoring the entire film along with songwriting partner Atticus Ross.
The film, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, isn't scheduled to be released until December. The trade edition of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be released on July 5.
Awards and accolades for Guy Gavriel Kay
Under Heaven, by internationally bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay, was recently nominated for three awards: the Locus Award, the Aurora Award and the Romantic Times Award.
The Locus Awards are presented to the winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll (Kay is nominated for Best Fantasy Novel), while the Aurora Awards are given out annually for the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy literary novels (Kay is shortlisted for Best SF/Fantasy Novel). In addition, Kay is shortlisted in the Fantasy category for the Romantic Times Awards.
Under Heaven has already received two awards: 2010's ALA Best Fantasy Novel and 2010's SF Book Club Editor's Pick Book of the Year. The Washington Post named it on of the Best Books of the Year, and The Globe and Mail listed it as one of the Top 100 Best Books of the Year.
Inspired by the eight-century Tang Dynasty in China, the novel centres on Shen Ta, whose life is changed forever when the White Jade Princess in Tagur presents him with 250 Sardian horses in recognition of his courage. A paperback edition of Under Heaven was released in April.
Michael Winter a finalist for the Trillium Book Award
Critically acclaimed, award-winning author Michael Winter is now a finalist for the Trillium Book Award for The Death of Donna Whalen, new in paperback on June 7.
The annual prize, worth $20,000, honours Canadian writers living in Ontario. See the full list of English-language book finalists here.
The winner will be announced on June 17 at the Toronto Reference Library. The night before, Winter and the other finalists will read at the TRL's Bram & Bluma Appel Salon. Details are here.
The Globe and Mail called the novel "Extraordinary ... Winter has enacted some of the most powerful storytelling of his career." For The Death of Donna Whalen, Winter has mined the records of the Sheldon Troke case and distilled their raw, naked truth into this mesmerizing work of documentary fiction.
Is your boss a psycho? GQ excerpts Jon Ronson’s The Psychopath Test
Bestselling journalist Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test continues to be featured in major media. On May 21, Ronson appeared on CBC Radio's Day 6 for an in-depth 30-minute interview with Brent Bambury. A feature interview will also run in the Summer issue of SHARP magazine and the Toronto Star's Heather Mallick discussed the book in a recent column.
Ronson made an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart that generated huge online buzz for the book. The Psychopath Test also received a positive review from Janet Maslin on the front page of The New York Times Arts Section and was excerpted in GQ.
In his book, Ronson takes readers into the gripping, bizarre, and hilarious world of psychopaths, the doctors who study them, the regular people who sometimes come up against them, and the public officials who try to protect us from them.
Seamus Heaney shortlisted for Griffin Poetry Prize
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney is one of four poets on the international shortlist for the Griffin Poetry Prize, to be announced on June 1 in Toronto.
The Griffin Poetry Prize is the world's largest prize for a first edition single collection of poetry written in English. It was founded in 2000 by philanthropist and businessman Scott Griffin.
Heaney's first collection appeared in 1966, and since then he has published poetry, criticism and translations that have established him as one of the leading poets of his generation. Human Chain, his twelfth collection of poems, elicits continuities and solidarities between husband and wife, child and parent, then and now, inside an intently remembered present.
Buzz for celebrated illustrator Jillian Tamaki’s Penguin Threads
 |
 |
 |
After posting samples of her work on her blog (see samples here), a number of online venues such as The Casual Optimist and The Atlantic picked up the news, with much accompanying buzz.
The three book covers were produced in just two months. The final covers will be sculpt-embossed, which will keep some of the tactile texture of the original designs.
The three classics will appear as part of Penguin Threads series and are to be released in fall 2011.
Tamaki previously illustrated Hiromi Goto's Half World for Penguin Canada (the book was longlisted for the 2010 IMPAC Dublin Award).
New Sookie Stackhouse takes #1 spot on Globe and Mail bestseller list
Charlaine Harris, author of the beloved Sookie Stackhouse series, is a publishing phenomenon. The eleventh installment in the series, Dead Reckoning, debuted last week as a #1 Globe and Mail bestseller.
Harris will be appearing in Toronto from July 15-17 for the Polaris fan convention. Dead Reckoning was the lead book review in this week's People magazine.
The Sookie Stackhouse books are the basis for HBO's hit television series True Blood, which has earned a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and a People's Choice Award, among many other honours, and has become HBO's highest rated series since The Sopranos. The fourth season of True Blood, based on the fourth Sookie Stackhouse novel Dead to the World, is set to premiere in June.
Read an excerpt from the book.
Henry Kissinger to visit Toronto for Munk debates
On June 17, former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger will be in Toronto to take part in the Munk debates. Joining him will be fellow authors Niall Ferguson and Fareed Zakaria, as well as David Daokui Li.
A review of Kissinger’s new book On China has already appeared in The New York Times. In On China, Kissinger examines how China has approached diplomacy, strategy, and negotiation throughout its history, and reflects on the consequences for the 21st century.
Did Tom Clancy predict Osama bin Laden raid?
The Daily Beast recently ran an article that asked whether Clancy predicted the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan in his previous book, Dead Or Alive. In this novel, bin Laden is living in an upscale house near a major city (Las Vegas in this case). In his pre-9/11 novels, Clancy detailed how passenger planes could be used as weapons.
Bestselling author Tom Clancy is back on June 14 for a thrilling new novel. Against All Enemies is a story that races from the remote, war-scarred landscapes of the Middle East to the blood-soaked chaos of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ex-navy SEAL Maxwell Moore has worked across the Middle East and behind the scenes for the Special Activities Division of the CIA. When he arrives at a rendezvous to take charge of a high-ranking Taliban captive, the meeting takes a turn for the worst. Barely surviving, he tries to bring to safety a Pakistani colonel with information about the debacle, only to have that mission fall prey to forces more powerful than any he has faced before.
Conservative majority makes Harperland a must-read
Monday's federal election resulted in a Conservative majority, a first for Stephen Harper's party, having previously attained two minority governments.
Harperland is now an essential primer for all Canadians on the nature of the new political landscape. In Harperland, prominent Globe and Mail columnist Lawrence Martin focuses on the growth of executive power under Harper and offers a clear picture of a skilled politician at a crucial point in Canadian politics.
Maclean's said of Harperland, "Perhaps the first serious attempt to take stock of Stephen Harper's time in power."
Drawing on interviews with prominent insiders, Martin probes the smearing of opponents, the silencing of the public and diplomatic service, the secrecy, the prorogations, the unprecedented centralizing of power, and the attempted muzzling of the media. He examines controversies such as the existence of a secret dirty-tricks handbook, the Chuck Cadman affair, campaign financing, the dismissal of nuclear power head Linda Keen, the Afghan detainees cover-up, the turning of access-to-information laws into barricades to information, and more.
Origins of Osama Bin Laden detailed in biography
President Barack Obama announced last Sunday that Osama Bin Laden, the head of terrorist organization Al Qaeda, had been found and killed. The raid, conducted by a force of more than 20 US Navy Seals, took place in Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Media coverage of the details surrounding the raid has been constant, whether concerning found documents that detail a plan to strike the U.S. rail system or Al Qaeda's confirmation of Bin Laden's death (accompanied by threats of retaliation).
Two time Pulitzer Prize-winner Steve Coll's account of the Bin Ladens is essential reading on one of the most elusive families of the twenty-first century. Meticulously researche, The Bin Ladens is the story of a remarkably varied and often dangerous family that has used money, mobility, and technology to dramatically different ends, and what their rise means for globalization, the War on Terror, and America's place in the Middle East.
Penguin to publish Thirty Years of the Game at its Best: A Hockey Canada Retrospective
Penguin Canada and Hockey Canada announced a partnership this week that will see Penguin release a thirty-year retrospective of Canadian junior hockey, chronicling the great moments in a program that has groomed the very best of Canada's elite players.
The book will release in stores in October in advance of the World Junior Hockey Championships in Calgary and Edmonton (December 26, 2011 to January 5, 2012).
Thirty Years of the Game at its Best will feature a chapter dedicated to each of the last thirty years of the game. Contributions from players, coaches, Hockey Canada principals, and journalists such as Stanley Cup and Olympic winning coach Mike Babcock and NHL star Steven Stamkos will take readers behind the scenes and tell stories never told before.
Over the past thirty years, Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence (POE) has attained a level of international accomplishment unmatched in Canadian sports history. The World Juniors have gone from a niche sports property to "the Canadian Super Bowl" and the tournament draws the largest television audiences for an annual sports event in this country.
Amitav Ghosh wins Blue Met Grand Prix
Amitav Ghosh has won the 2011 Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix.
The award is bestowed in recognition of life time literary achievement. The award was presented to Ghosh in Montreal this Wednesday. Ghosh is the author most recently of Sea of Poppies (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize), the first in a planned trilogy.
The second book, River of Smoke, will appear from Penguin Canada this September.
Penguin is also re-releasing three novels by Ghosh in paperback format. The three novels, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Circle of Reason, and The Shadow Lines, will be available in Canada for the first time on June 1.
Giller winner Johanna Skibsrud to be published by Hamish Hamilton Canada
Penguin Canada is thrilled to announce the acquisition of two new works by Canadian novelist Johanna Skibsrud, whose debut novel, The Sentimentalists, won the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize and continues to receive international acclaim.
The untitled collection of stories and upcoming novel were acquired in a heated auction.
Said Johanna Skibsrud, "I am very pleased to be working with Penguin. I admire the Hamish Hamilton list, and am excited to be joining it."
Johanna Skibsrud, 30, is the youngest winner and the first debut novelist since 1999 to capture the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada's most prestigious literary award.
Hamish Hamilton Canada imprint, the prestigious literary imprint from Penguin Canada, launched in 2009 and currently houses luminaries including Joseph Boyden, Kim Echlin, Zsuzsi Gartner, Andrea Levy, and Miguel Syjuco.
The Help film trailer released
The Help, Kathryn Stockett's debut novel, topped bestseller lists, garnered warm praise from critics, spent two years in hardcover, and has just been released in paperback.
A major motion picture from DreamWorks based on the book will appear in theatres starting on August 12, and this week the trailer was released. View it at thehelpmovie.com.
See Kathryn Stockett in Toronto! She’ll be visiting on May 10 for an event at the Indigo Manulife store at 7pm. Get more information at http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/storeevents/
Penguin authors win Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced this week and two Penguin authors were named: Ron Chernow for Washington (in the category of biography) and Eric Foner for The Fiery Trial (in the category of history).
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in journalism, musical composition, and literature. It was established in 1917 and prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. For more information, visit www.pulitzer.org.
In other awards news, Nicole Krauss' Great House has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize and Caravaggio by Andrew Graham Dixon has been longlisted for the 2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. Seamus Heaney is a Griffin Poetry Prize 2011 finalist for Human Chain. Heaney will be doing a public reading on May 31 at Koerner Hall in Toronto. The Griffin Poetry Prize ceremony is on June 1.
Critical darling Skippy Dies gets new cover treatment
Word-of-mouth buzz continues to grow for critical darling Skippy Dies (The Guardian called it "outrageously enjoyable"). On May 24, Penguin will release the novel in a smaller format with a new eye-catching cover (May will also bring the re-issue of Murray's debut novel, The Evening of Long Goodbyes).
Author Paul Murray will visit Toronto for a Harbourfront reading on May 18 (details are here).
Skippy Dies is an epic, tragic, comic, brilliant novel set in and around Dublin's Seabrook College for Boys. It principally concerns the lives, loves, mistakes, and triumphs of overweight maths whiz Ruprecht Van Doren and his roommate, Daniel "Skippy" Juster.
"Arch, caustic and frighteningly true to what courses through the minds of most barely teen boys ... a stellar literary tale."
—Maclean's
Universal acquires next sure fire Oscar contender: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The next Oscar contender is sure to be Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, the film adaptation of legendary author John le Carré's famous novel.
Directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), the film stars Gary Oldman and Colin Firth, who recently won the Oscar for best actor for his role in The King's Speech.
Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy recently premiered at the European Film Market in Berlin and was very well received, so much so that Universal Pictures has taken over the rights. The acquisition was widely reported by such sources as Slash Film and The Onion's A/V Club. The movie is scheduled for release at the end of this year.
The cold war era tale stars Gary Oldman as a former MI:6 operative who comes out of retirement to uncover the identity of a Soviet double agent in the intelligence organization.
Moonwalking with Einstein film rights bought by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures announced last week that the studio has bought the rights to Moonwalking With Einstein, the new book from the Penguin Press. Read the full story here.
Check out an interview with CBC's The Current that recently aired. An interview with Joshua Foer also ran in The Globe and Mail.
See Joshua Foer in person on May 1; he’ll be appearing at Ben McNally's Books and Brunch.
Moonwalking with Einstein takes readers into the world of competitive memorizing and details the training of these "mental athletes." Foer discovers that their success is not the result of superhuman intelligence but of hours upon hours of training, a process the author underwent himself, which led him to win an event at his first ever USA Memory Championship.
Harperland garners media attention as federal election looms
Lawrence Martin and his recent national bestseller, Harperland, will be front and centre in much of the media this spring now that Canada has been propelled into a federal election. The Harper government fell last week after the opposition unanimously supported a motion of no-confidence.
Martin was featured recently on CBC Radio's The Current. Upon Harperland's release, the National Post called it "a potential 276-page guidebook to a Conservative majority." It was also named the Hill Times' #1 book of 2010.
Limitless and Jane Eyre get the big screen treatment
Limitless is a new action thriller starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, and Robert De Niro, and directed by Neil Burger. It hits theatres in Canada on Friday, March 18. The Globe and Mail recently ran a rave review of the film, saying, "Add it all up, including the nifty twist at the end, and what we have here is a fun Hollywood flick with a good head on its shoulders." Penguin has the film tie-in edition of the novel of the same name. Alan Glynn's debut novel is a stunning international thriller, a wild, compulsive ride into the vortex of modern life and greed.
Charlotte Bronte's beloved novel Jane Eyre is getting the big screen treatment again this spring. The new film is directed by Cary Fukunaga and stars Mia Wasikowska, last seen in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and the critically acclaimed The Kids Are Alright.
View the rave review in The Globe and Mail, which calls it "[a]n excellent new film, starring a stern-yet-beguiling 19-year-old Mia Wasikowska." Penguin has beautiful editions of the classic novel. View the full selection at Penguin.ca.
Penguin authors Jack Whyte and Douglas Coupland shortlisted for BC Book Prizes
Penguin Canada is proud to announce that two of its titles are shortlisted for the 2011 BC Book Prizes.
The Forest Laird by Jack Whyte is shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall McLuhan by Douglas Coupland is shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.
Jack Whyte's novels, including The Templar Trilogy, have sold over 1 million copies in Canada. Marshall McLuhan met with critical praise from such top outlets as The New York Times. A reviewer for the Toronto Star said of the biography, "I think it's the best of the Extraordinary Canadians series thus far, both for its readability and for its meditations on writing biography in the 21st century."
The awards gala and ceremony will take place on April 21 at the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver.
Please see the BC Book Prize website for more information.
