Booksology James Patterson and Bookshop.org announce new $15,000 prize for debut author
Over the years, James Patterson has funded quite a few initiatives to support indie bookstores. This latest announcement is particularly exciting as it is a significant award for debut authors, selected by the indie bookstore itself. The first place finalists have already been announced (I just read The Correspondent and I can see why it was an indie bookstore favorite this year). The winner will receive $15,000 and the runner-up will receive $10,000. It will be interesting to see if the spotlight on the winners and finalists will increase sales.
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Wait, is Heathcliff white?
From the moment I heard that Jacob Elordi would be playing Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation, I knew this would be a major discussion of the book and the internet. Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff is portrayed in several ways in the novel, but at the end of the day, people think of him as some kind of different character. Escaped slave? Romani? What else? Ambiguity is part of your personality. Fennell was cast because when asked about why Elordi, which I think everyone can agree on, falls into the category of “that’s white”, she had no answer about making a movie where Heathcliff comes to mind when he reads the book. The real answer is probably frustratingly banal. Elordi is a sex symbol star and people will go see Desire after Margot Robbie. So while Heathcliff’s origins may not be strictly a whitewash, as his origins are unknown, he certainly avoids perhaps the most interesting question. Wuthering Heights.
And how can we know so much about the actual content of the novel? Because we knew this was going to happen and planned accordingly. The latest episode of Zero to Well-Read takes a deep dive into Emily Bronte’s strange and compelling dark, non-romantic work, which is being adapted into a new Hollywood blockbuster. Find out how this novel came about, who Emily Bronte was, and why it’s one of the most provocative classics of all time.
