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Why do writers drink?

Does it help writers to drink? Certainly Jack Kerouac, Dylan Thomas, John Cheever, Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald thought so. But, wonders Blake Morrison, are the words on the page there...

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The Trip to Echo Spring: Why Writers Drink by Olivia Laing – review

Olivia Laing's thoughts on writers and alcohol are both original and movingRivers run through Olivia Laing's writing – sometimes the real thing, either narrow and innocuous like a backwoods creek or...

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Elmore Leonard 'was a master'

Martin Amis, Ian Rankin and Jackie Collins are among fellow authors and fans paying tribute to the US crime writerFans and fellow writers have paid tribute to US crime writer Elmore Leonard after he...

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Gordon Lish: famous for all the wrong reasons

This great man of American letters should be judged by his body of work and the success of his students, not by his editing of Raymond CarverNow approaching his 80th year, the writer, teacher and...

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Weighing up the virtues of long novels

Aristotelian poetics suggest that a big story is automatically better than a short one. Does his theory measure up?I blame Proust, or at least last week's tributes to his massive achievement. But after...

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Literary Christmas presents: Tony Birch on The Blue Plateau

We asked Australian authors to choose a book as a gift and say who they would present it to. Here Tony Birch wraps up The Blue Plateau: A Landscape MemoirWhich Australian book would you give as a gift,...

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The Trip to Echo Spring by Olivia Laing review – a study of six alcoholic US...

Affected by her own family's experience with drink, Laing's book is full of insight, compassion and unexpected beautyTravelogue, literary criticism, memoir, science, psychoanalysis: Olivia Laing's...

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The Trip to Echo Spring: Why Writers Drink review – Olivia Laing's elegant...

This fluid portrait of six literary greats combines biography, science and superb prose to illuminate the effects of alcohol on their writingIt's a niche idea, this one, at first glance. Why do writers...

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Birdman to hatch on opening night of Venice film festival

Alejandro González Iñárritu's superhero movie, in which Michael Keaton plays an actor keen to adapt a Raymond Carver story, bags coveted spot at start of autumn film festival season• We predict what...

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Birdman review: an acid but empty flight of fancy - Venice film festival

This year’s Venice film festival begins with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s showbiz satire, a film as jittery, shallow and occasionally inspired as its hero, writes Xan BrooksOn the opening day of the...

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The 10 best short story collections

Elizabeth Day chooses the sharpest and smartest of small but perfectly formed works of fictionElizabeth Day co-founded Pin Drop, which presents authors and actors reading short stories in inspiring...

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Readers suggest the 10 best short-story collections

Last week we brought you our 10 best short-story collections. Here, we present your thoughts on what should have made the listLabyrinths Jorge Luis Borges, 1962Continue reading...

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The 10 best Christmases in literature

From a charming scene in War and Peace to Kingsley Amis’s depiction of a ghastly crew of septuagenarians, the best Christmases in literature• Christmas in books quizWar and PeaceLeo Tolstoy,...

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Tips, links and suggestions: what are you reading this week?

Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of themRead more Tips, links and suggestions blogsWelcome to this week’s blog. Here’s a roundup of your comments and photos from last...

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Reading American cities: books about Portland

Known as a vegan-friendly, coffee-obsessed, bike-riding haven, the Oregon city has only recently entered popular consciousness – mostly thanks to parodies of its hipsters. Jon Raymond explores the...

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Gordon Lish: ‘Had I not revised Carver, would he be paid the attention given...

Christian Lorentzen talks to the legendary editor in an extract from a forthcoming issue of the Paris ReviewIt’s the custom for editors to keep a low profile and to underplay any changes they may make...

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The Recovering by Leslie Jamison review – on giving up booze

This much-touted literary love letter to Alcoholics Anonymous is too moral in its argument for the superiority of the soberLeslie Jamison’s narrative ode to Alcoholics Anonymous was written during a...

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Book clinic: which books best examine the nature of loneliness?

From Proust’s explorations of consciousness to Olivia Laing’s meditations on isolation, solitude is literature’s friendQ: Which books best examine the nature of loneliness?Thomas Edwards, 21, third...

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Take risks and tell the truth: how to write a great short story

Drawing on writers from Anton Chekhov to Kit de Waal, Donal Ryan explores the art of writing short fiction. Plus Chris Power on the best books for budding short story writersThe first story I wrote...

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Top 10 novels and stories of the 1970s | Hilma Wolitzer

In a decade when feminism brought a new weight to the treatment and status of women in fiction, the best male writers began to take domestic life seriouslyLooking back at the 70s, and at my own...

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