Tomorrow, December 17th, marks the centenary of Penelope Fitzgerald, author of The Blue Flower, the Booker Prize-winning Offshore and many more novels and essays that set her firmly as one of the best British writers of the 20th century. It seemed only appropriate celebrate the anniversary by indulging an audio extract from her Booker Prize shortlisted The Bookshop. Be sure to also check out David Nicholl’s RE4DING of the opening chapter (yes, you read that right). Read more…
Here at 4th Estate, we like to spoil our readers with an occasional extract or two, and we’re currently loving Joyce Carol Oates’ new memoir so much that we thought we would share a little bit of it with you. The Lost Landscape is a fascinating look into the life of a prolific writer, and in this extract Oates reveals the book that inspired her prodigious output…
This month we’ve been discussing the theme of Power on the blog. What better way to finish than with an extract from one of the most caustic satires of Power we’ve published in recent years, Joseph O’Neill’s Man Booker longlisted ‘The Dog’…
For those of you who would prefer to kick back and listen to an extract of ‘Freedom’, free from issuu widgety-things and the complications of downloading PDFs, simply click the link below and hear the first five minutes of the novel. Simples.
As we are approaching the paperback publication of ‘Freedom’ by Jonathan Franzen (you might have noticed we’ve gone a little Franzen themed on 4thestate.co.uk) I thought I’d give you all another treat.
Using the issuu widgety-thing below (yes, that is the proper technical term…) you can either read ‘A Reader in Exile’ online, or click through to our issuu channel and download the PDF for your e-reader, computer, iphone or even to print it out (retro!).
Free extract to download of The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields.
Continuing our Booker theme following the long-list announcement, here is an extract from Carol Shields’s 1993 short-listed novel, ‘The Stone Diaries’
Another free download as part of our booker celebrations
First published in the UK by Collins and then moving into the Flamingo imprint, ‘Offshore’ by Penelope Fitzgerald is now published under 4th Estate.
Offshore won the Booker Prize in 1979 – 5 years before 4th Estate even existed. While we may not have been the original publisher, 4th Estate are proud to publish Penelope Fitzgerald and to celebrate her Booker winning novel ‘Offshore’.
Free extract to download of Unless by Carol Shields.
Continuing our Booker theme following the long-list announcement, here is an extract from Carol Shields’s 2002 short-listed novel, ‘Unless’
