Blood Relatives starts in 1975 in Leeds, which for me was the nadir of the decade. The country was all but broke. The fashion was for clunky square cars, wide shirt collars and trousers with flares that always got sodden in the rain. Girls in tent dresses with fluted collars and knee length boots.
By ‘75 glam had descended into the nursery rhyme farce of Gary Glitter and Mud, prog rock was coked out and washed up; disco and punk hadn’t yet made inroads. So it was Abba or Status Quo. But it was also the era of dub reggae and U.S. funk and real R & B. Older siblings would tell you smugly that nothing would be as good as the sixties ever again and you felt miserably that you’d been born too late. Read more…
When you’re growing up and negotiating hormonal changes, troubles of the heart, subconsciously establishing the worries that will plague you for years, the hell that was SCHOOL (uniforms, come on) and fluid friendship groups, we couldn’t be told that it wasn’t just us struggling, that we weren’t alone, and that, amazingly, other people had problems. We’re a bit older now, and sometimes, looking back into the past is tough. We’ve repressed a lot of the memories, good or bad. I’ve repressed the time that, when in detention, I wrote a rap about a boy I fancied/hated (equal parts) to the tune of ‘Maria, Maria‘ by Santana. I was kind enough to dredge that up, just for you. More than enough about me, Amy Poehler and Lena Dunham, two of our favourite and funniest women, in a series of retrospective and contemporary essays that have thankfully been bound and turned into brilliant books, share their memories with us. In Yes Please, Amy Poehler presents to us an unmarked childhood; a happy one, filled with laughter and encouragement. Conversely, Lena Dunham, in Not That Kind of Girl, shows us a childhood filled with fear. Here’s to being a funny woman, strong enough to delve into the past. As ridiculous as it might have been, you can’t say that it wasn’t formative. Read more…
Saturday the 15th of November saw what would have been the 84th birthday of J.G. Ballard. A prophetic, unnerving and distinct writer whose work, be it in the form of a novel, short story or essay, has impacted so many of us. So much so, that a simple hashtag, #BallardDay, had you tweeting us in your droves from 9am until just past midnight (and the next day). Below are ten of our very favourite tweets from the day.
We asked 4th Estate staff to write 30 words on one of 30 classic 4th Estate titles. Here’s Jack Williams on ‘Netherland’ by Joseph O’Neill
‘A different spin on the classic American dream novel, Joseph O’Neil’s Netherland follows a Dutch immigrant in post 9-11 New York while detailing his new love found love of Cricket.’
We’ve been clearing out our offices and archiving the most interesting of items in preparation for our move to London Bridge in January. Over the next month or so we’ll be sharing anything of GREAT interest that we find with you. To start with, we flick through a satisfyingly large magazine we published to celebrate our 21st…
Back in 2005, the word ‘kindle’ was principally a verb, the word ‘Amazon’ was generally synonymous with a rainforest, and Hilary Mantel’s mantelpiece was conspicuously lacking in Booker Prizes. Here at 4th Estate, we were busy publishing future classics like Mantel’s Beyond Black, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, Tash Aw’s The Harmony Silk Factory and Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries. Read more…
When you’re looking for a recipe to lift you out of a hole, have a go with this little aluminium ladder of a smoothie. Pomegranates and blueberries are amazing sources of antioxidants, which help to keep your immune system strong and will fight rogue cells called free radicals, which are intent on doing you harm. The perfect recipe for the times when your mind and body are conspiring against you. Read more…
We asked 4th Estate staff to write 30 words on one of 30 classic 4th Estate titles. Here’s marketing assistant Candice Carty-Williams on ‘Stuart: A Life Backwards‘ by Alexander Masters
‘There aren’t many books that blur the lines between protagonist and antagonist, and that remind you that we have it in us to be both, in our own story.’
Yes I really believe the classics are an indulgence, as I find are all *good* books (and I know that if you are happening across this blog on a publishing website you are likely sympathetic to this claim and I have you on side, which is always a relief when writing), but the classics particularly appeal to me with a warm mug of tea and an evening bubble bath. First, stating the obvious, they are older than modern novels, so they immediately take us to a world which is not familiar to our present-day society, and so quickly one can escape the busyness of 21st century life and join characters in an age where Facebook and iPhones did not exist. Read more…
