Thursday, 10 July 2008

Blog to Book to Radio 4

I see the well known blog Wife in the North is now the Book of the Week on Radio 4. Bryan and I (who spent a very enjoyable evening together last night, in the real world - well, Notting Hill) are not bitter. For myself, I can see that one man's lonely journey into the southern suburban heartlands might not have quite the Radio 4 appeal of WITN's saga - and perhaps there's a certain lack of narrative drive... Anyway, good luck to her.
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8 comments:

  1. malty10 July 2008 at 13:37

    Its nice to see my native Northumberland acting as a stress counselor for yet another wrecked townie and it would appear not one who, three months after moving in wants to run the show, as so often happens. Gan canny though lass, don't tell everyone about the UKs hidden gem and upset the housing market up here. We are suffering enough at the moment because of the Edinburgh financial services wallahs

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  2. Anonymous10 July 2008 at 17:01

    I saw a galley copy of Wife in the North's book in the paper's book room a couple of weeks ago. I showed it to the book ed and asked him if he wanted me to review it as blogs are the (relatively) new thing and we want to be cutting edge, etc. He flipped through it. "This is just a bunch of her blog entries reprinted in a book. So what? She hasn't done anything to make it a book in its own right. Forget it." So I did. Instead I'm reviewing something else from England that's just out here (and quite a good read, too): "What Was Lost" by Catherine O'Flynn.

    Makes me understand a bit more how you Brits must feel under surveillance all the time now that these cameras are everywhere. Privacy, whither art thou?

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  3. Mark10 July 2008 at 17:52

    Every boulevardier has his banlieu. "The Diary of a post-Modern Edwardian Gentleman 400 miles North of Cork Street" - one can hear Sarah Montague tittering now. Nigeness says it all.

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  4. Uncle Dick Madeley10 July 2008 at 18:59

    I can't believe what I'm about to do. I'm going to say things about people...

    When I was feeling down recently, my book having been dumped weeks before publication and I was feeling like I'd abandon my writing, the Wife emailed me out of the blue, offering to help me. Cynical old Madeley here wouldn't think that things like that happen. Strangers helping strangers. And the Wife with her £70,000 advance seemed to represent everything we dream of as bloggers but never achieve. Even if nothing came of it -- she put me in contact with her agent, though he didn't seem interested in my comedy novel -- it changed my opinion of the Wife. Her book might not be my cup of tea but I really do wish it well.

    (My book was undoubtedly funnier though...)

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  5. Anonymous10 July 2008 at 19:48

    Susan, your book editor's remarks remind me why that Lehman Brothers analyst said yesterday that a fair price for a share in the NY Times Co. was 43% below its current price, which was already 48% below its highest price in the last two years, and only 27% of the high less than four years ago.

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  6. Anonymous10 July 2008 at 20:29

    Explain that, Randy; I don't get how its analogous.

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  7. Anonymous11 July 2008 at 20:37

    Susan, newspapers are losing income and readers (as you well know). There are many reasons, but one of them is their inability to deliver a product which their target market wants. Writing off that book as your editor did strikes me as a good example of the those who don't "get it" and probably never will. There are any number of ways a review of that book could have been written, and I am sure you could have written a good one, but to your editor, "So what? She hasn't done anything to make it a book in its own right. Forget it."

    The same thing could probably be said about more than half of the books reviewed in your newspaper (or any newspaper, for that matter). The sad truth is that most aren't worth reading and most of the authors haven't done anything worth writing about.

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  8. malty12 July 2008 at 13:48

    I remember another city torn refugee who's troubled soul was repaired by the elixir that is Northumberland. This man was from Detroit, a Vietnam war dodger (not my description). He came, he stayed, married a local girl and became a well contented bee keeper, he had been I believe an accountant.
    Don't tell anyone though, they will all want to come.

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