Spies, treachery and dangerous secrets, all liberally seasoned with dry wit: these were the moreish ingredients that made international hits of Len Deighton’s stylish 1960s thrillers, set in the grey world of post-colonial, postwar British intelligence. His sardonic working-class hero, played on screen by Michael Caine in the The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain, set the template for a succession of deadpan, worldly-wise leading men. Now a fresh generation have the chance to sample Deighton’s wares as Penguin republishes many of his books, starting this month with those three, early bestselling titles. Read more
Month: May 2021
Fred Jordan, Publisher of Taboo-Breaking Books, Dies at 95
At Grove Press, he and Barney Rosset challenged censors as they popularized D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and others. Read more
The Forgotten Genius of Leo Perutz
Borges listed him among the great mystery writers of the age; Robert Musil claimed he had invented his own genre; Italo Calvino, Graham Greene, Alfred Hitchcock, and Ian Fleming counted theselves as fans — and yet Leo Perutz has been almost entirely forgotten within the English-speaking world. Read more
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Writers Orgs Form #DisneyMustPay Joint Task Force
Half a dozen professional writers’ organizations have joined with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in forming a joint task to press the Walt Disney Company to ensure it pays all royalties owed to authors. The task force, #DisneyMust Pay, contends that Disney is putting the onus on authors to prove they are owed money, rather than working with authors and author groups to proactively pay authors royalties that are due. Read more
