SCOOP.CO.NZ: Introducing the Scoop Review of Books

Tuesday, 8 April 2008, 12:22 am
Article: Alastair Thompson

Dear Scoopers,

Scoop is delighted and very proud today to launch The Scoop Review of Books edited by Jeremy Rose.

Jeremy's journalistic career dates back two decades and his association with Scoop dates back to our inception (at the time he was working in the now defunct City Voice Newspaper.)

In The Scoop Review of Books Jeremy will be marshalling a group of fine writers and producing what we hope will quickly become a must read for anyone interested in New Zealand literature in particular and indeed books of all kinds.

Jeremy outlines the contents of the newly launched page below and his intentions for the new venture.

Best Regards

Alastair Thompson
Scoop General Manager
Tuesday, 8 April 2008

Jeremy Rose Writes:

From today Scoop will begin publishing regular book reviews, author interviews, book news and press releases from the world of publishing.

As a taste of things to come we’re launching the Scoop Review of Books with a short piece on the first Bougainvillian comment on Lloyd Jones’s award winning Mr Pip. It’s been hailed in Sydney, London and New York but what do the people of Arawa and Buka make of it?

Victoria University writer in residence David Geary reviews Owen Marshall’s Dry Bread, writer and historian Mark Derby reports on an electrifying performance by Ian McEwan during writers and readers week, and I do some back of the envelop calculations and come to the conclusion Joseph Stiglitz has under-estimated the cost of the Iraq war by a factor of 100.

In time we’re confident the SRB – which has its own dedicated website (Bookmark this page and visit often) – will become the first port of call for anyone wanting thoughtful commentary on New Zealand books.

All our reviews will include links to reviews of the same work in other publications and, where we can find them, author interviews.

We’re not limiting ourselves to New Zealand books and will bring you reviews of the best of the many important books that fail to get a look-in in the mainstream press as well as a different take on works by big name authors.

If you or anyone you know would be keen to help out with reviews and/or interviews we’d love to hear from you. At this stage we aren’t in a position to offer any payment other than a free copy of the book in question… but, fingers crossed, that will change.

We’re casting a wide net and have already sent a note to the Queen asking whether she would be willing to review Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader (a highly recommended tale on what would happen if the Queen developed a taste for reading) We’ll let you know her response.

And it goes without saying we’d love to hear from publishers and any potential advertisers interested in supporting the project.

Finally, every Friday we’ll send out an email alerting subscribers to the reviews and articles published that week and any good book related items we’ve come across that week; like these:

**********

SRB Picks Of The Week - 7 April 2008

The writer Rupert Smith on his lucrative porn-lit sideline.

Second World War bomber and author of the extraordinary A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn has been churning out some great essays recently, like these: Reflections on war and his take on the election madness.

And now Viggo Mortensen has joined in providing a voice-over for an animated version of a comic book adaptation of his A People’s History – A People’s History of American Empire.

Sticking to the theme of empire, although not strictly book related, this 41-year-old speech by Dr Martin Luther King, delivered exactly a year before his assassination, is as eloquent as it is powerful. King’s condemnation of US foreign police makes Rev Wright look like a flag waving patriot.

There are some gems amongst the Best New Zealand Poems of 2007 as selected by Paula Green for the Institute of Modern Letters.

Upton Sinclair, the author of the best-selling, early 20th century novel, The Jungle, dreamed of having a Hollywood hit. It didn’t happen in his lifetime but posthumously he’s hit oil with: There Will Be Blood.

And finally good news for fans of Phillip Pullman’s Dark Material trilogy (the first part of the screen version of which screened in our cinemas over summer under the name The Golden Compass), he’s written a prequel, an extract of which can be read here. And the Times has a Pullman interview.

Click here:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/cgi-bin/newsagent/new_user.cgi?form=home
to subscribe to the SRB’s picks of the week.

Jeremy Rose
Editor
Scoop Review of Books
jeremy@scoop.co.nz

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

Contact Alastair Thompson

• Linkedin
• Twitter - @althecat
• Facebook
• Email - alastair@scoop.co.nz