- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Alma Books Ltd; Trade paperback original edition (9 April 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1846881013
- ISBN-13: 978-1846881015
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 13.2 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 710,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'A novel which is light yet serious, funny and painful, somewhat fantastic yet shot through with truth' --Allan Massie, The Scotsman
'Gallenzi... slips in sound insider's judgements on how this business works. Read it for the lowdown on the low trade' --Boyd Tonkin, The Independent
'As a working publisher, a founder of Hesperus Press and a director of Calder Publications, Alessandro Gallenzi has first-hand knowledge of the publishing world. While not necessarily directed at paying off old scores, his first novel Bestseller shows that its creator clearly enjoys laying about him, not just at the book trade's monsters and grotesque, but at their consensual victims in the shape of writers and editorial underlings.' -- Times Literary Supplement
'A clever satire on the world of publishing' ----The Times
'A fine comic caper and a biting satire on the publishing industry... it is cleverly plotted and lands several juicy thumps on its target.' --Independent on Sunday
'Too depressing, too accurate' --Tibor Fischer
'a novel which is light yet serious, funny and painful, somewhat fantastic yet shot through with truth.' --Allan Massie, The Scotman
'Gallenzi... slips in sound insider's judgements on how this business works. Read it for the lowdown on the low trade' --Boyd Tonkin, The Independent
'As a working publisher, a founder of Hesperus Press and a director of Calder Publications, Alessandro Gallenzi has first-hand knowledge of the publishing world. While not necessarily directed at paying off old scores, his first novel Bestseller shows that its creator clearly enjoys laying about him, not just at the book trade's monsters and grotesque, but at their consensual victims in the shape of writers and editorial underlings.' -- Times Literary Supplement
'A clever satire on the world of publishing' ----The Times
'A fine comic caper and a biting satire on the publishing industry... it is cleverly plotted and lands several juicy thumps on its target.' --Independent on Sunday
'Too depressing, too accurate' --Tibor Fischer
'a novel which is light yet serious, funny and painful, somewhat fantastic yet shot through with truth.' --Allan Massie, The Scotman
Review
'A novel which is light yet serious, funny and painful, somewhat fantastic yet shot through with truth' Allan Massie, The Scotsman 'Gallenzi... slips in sound insider's judgements on how this business works. Read it for the lowdown on the low trade' Boyd Tonkin, The Independent 'As a working publisher, a founder of Hesperus Press and a director of Calder Publications, Alessandro Gallenzi has first-hand knowledge of the publishing world. While not necessarily directed at paying off old scores, his first novel Bestseller shows that its creator clearly enjoys laying about him, not just at the book trade's monsters and grotesque, but at their consensual victims in the shape of writers and editorial underlings.' TLS
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This black comedy, about the travails of publishing as seen by a serially-unpublished young wannabe bestselling author and a respected old publisher of translated works beleaguered by the financial world he is now forced to work in, could have been really hilarious - if say David Lodge or Tom Sharpe had written it.
Instead, it is rather average. The characters, with the exception of gentleman publisher Charles and his PA, are absolutely ghastly. All the stereotypes you could think of are there, and their worst sides all come out in the bidding war for a fictional call-girl's memoirs. It's not bad, it's got a few laughs, and a blogging friend of mine even gets a positive mention - however it's lacking bite. It's a book that's not quite made its mind up whether it's to be an out and out tragedy or satire, and has settled intead for being a comedy-drama - very ITV!
The author is an insider - being a publisher himself, (of quality reprints of out of print gems at Hesperus), and although it's a depressing view of his own industry, it's still a bit cosy. Industry insiders will doubtless enjoy it and get all the in jokes that went over my head. Ultimately it's backward looking rather than anticipating the next publishing sensation - which would have been much more fun.
Instead, it is rather average. The characters, with the exception of gentleman publisher Charles and his PA, are absolutely ghastly. All the stereotypes you could think of are there, and their worst sides all come out in the bidding war for a fictional call-girl's memoirs. It's not bad, it's got a few laughs, and a blogging friend of mine even gets a positive mention - however it's lacking bite. It's a book that's not quite made its mind up whether it's to be an out and out tragedy or satire, and has settled intead for being a comedy-drama - very ITV!
The author is an insider - being a publisher himself, (of quality reprints of out of print gems at Hesperus), and although it's a depressing view of his own industry, it's still a bit cosy. Industry insiders will doubtless enjoy it and get all the in jokes that went over my head. Ultimately it's backward looking rather than anticipating the next publishing sensation - which would have been much more fun.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
There were one or two unsubtle leaps in the narrative, a few characters were clunkily didactic at times and the satire was muted and self-evident, but overall I really enjoyed this novel. The characters seemed pretty real to me and I even started liking some of them by the end. I do not agree with other reviewers who claim the plot was slow-moving; they must have read far better books than I as I thought it made good progress.
To draw an analogy with the world of cinema, Jim Talbot is a kind of Ed Wood. He's full of singleminded passion and enthusiasm, some might say tunnel vision, but still looking for that lucky break. This book chronicles his experiences and those whose lives he touches.
Beyond the world of literature, anyone who's experienced a corporate re-org will find something to smile at in this book!
To draw an analogy with the world of cinema, Jim Talbot is a kind of Ed Wood. He's full of singleminded passion and enthusiasm, some might say tunnel vision, but still looking for that lucky break. This book chronicles his experiences and those whose lives he touches.
Beyond the world of literature, anyone who's experienced a corporate re-org will find something to smile at in this book!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Read Bestseller, particularly if you think you've written one, and hope that it's not "too accurate". It's a hugely enjoyable story of an amoral aspiring writer, which reminds us that not all of us in Jim Talbot's boat are glowing specimens of humanity. Talbot's antithesis, the rejected and dejected publisher Charles Randall is not, I suspect, based on Gallenzi himself but must surely be based on any number of well-meaning publishers who find themselves overtaken by public taste and "the market". It's a shame that all the businessmen portrayed are so thoroughly disagreeable. The story is not as predictable as some of us jaded authors manque might hope and hopefully not every corner of the real world of publishing is as comically bleak as the author portrays it. Funny. As long as there are publishers like Mr. Gallenzi around I think we can assume that there are still pockets of sanity in the rabid modern publishing industry.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
You'll laugh, you'll groan
Entertaining black comedy about publishing. Skewers a world all too familiar to writers and editors. Read more
Published 16 months ago by expatina
Darkly comic, very caustic, rather grotesque
I imagine that this darkly comic and sardonic tale might be enjoyed by anyone working in the publishing industry. I don't, and I found it very hard to engage with. Read more
Published 17 months ago by deepbluesky
Title contravenes Trade Descriptions Act
This is really quite a poor book. I had problems overlooking the author's style so I couldn't concentrate on the character development or plot. Read more
Published 22 months ago by SAP
Daft farce, but fun
Practically every fiction author at some stage or another gets around to writing a book about the world of books; sometimes writing about writing is all they do (naming no Paul... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Alan Hansen
life imitates art imitates life imitates...
A book for all budding authors, something that perhaps should be handed out with the course materials of every creative writing class for all those people who think that the book... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Green Book Addict Librarian
Writer Writes About Writing
Like comedy shows about making comedy shows, writing about the perils of writing for a living are fraught with dangers, not least of which is that of alienating anyone living... Read more
Published 24 months ago by I. Bullen
Read before writing
In the past month, two books about disillusioned writers have landed on the mat. This is the one to read. Read more
Published on 20 May 2010 by Mrs. R.
Amusing look at the publishing world
What I really like about this novel is that it looks at publishing from both sides. On the authorial side we have Jim Talbot, a writer who has written many unpublished novels and... Read more
Published on 2 May 2010 by Moonlit
Cutthroat world of publishing revealed
Alessandro Gallenzi, a novelist, playwright, poet and publisher,writes with an insiders knowledge about the publishing business, and if it is in real life as he tells it, I would... Read more
Published on 25 April 2010 by J. Aitken
The Veiled Autobiography
Much like "The Girl With The Hornets Nest Tattoo", Bestseller is obviously the a thinly veiled, dramatized autobigraphy. Read more
Published on 15 April 2010 by Mr. M. A. Reed
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