Rogues, Widows and Orphans (Hardback)
Mischief and Misadventures in the World of Books
Buy from
An entertaining romp through bookish mishaps, exposing all the weird, wow! and wtf? moments that the literary world has to offer
'Fascinating' DAILY MAIL
'Word nerds, assemble! This is the book for us' LUCY MANGAN
'A delightfully impish book of behind-the-scenes literary mishaps' SUNDAY TIMES
It's a long journey from a writer's mind to a finished book - and a lot needs to go right along the way. But isn't it more interesting when things go wrong? With an expert Penguin editor as your guide, dive into the dark-side of the book world: a secret history fizzing with scandals, rivalries, cock-ups and con jobs.
We'll discover how the tiniest of typos can have oversized consequences, unearth horrifying examples of bad taste and worse style, and peek into tales of forgeries and feuds as dramatic as any thriller. We'll unredact the most egregious cases of censorship, expose hoarders and thieves, and ask: after centuries of man-made mischief, can the humble book survive the new machine age?
Rogues, Widows and Orphans (Ebook)
Mischief and Misadventures in the World of Books
Buy from
An entertaining romp through bookish mishaps, exposing all the weird, wow! and wtf? moments that the literary world has to offer
'Fascinating' DAILY MAIL
'Word nerds, assemble! This is the book for us' LUCY MANGAN
'A delightfully impish book of behind-the-scenes literary mishaps' SUNDAY TIMES
It's a long journey from a writer's mind to a finished book - and a lot needs to go right along the way. But isn't it more interesting when things go wrong? With an expert Penguin editor as your guide, dive into the dark-side of the book world: a secret history fizzing with scandals, rivalries, cock-ups and con jobs.
We'll discover how the tiniest of typos can have oversized consequences, unearth horrifying examples of bad taste and worse style, and peek into tales of forgeries and feuds as dramatic as any thriller. We'll unredact the most egregious cases of censorship, expose hoarders and thieves, and ask: after centuries of man-made mischief, can the humble book survive the new machine age?
Reviews for Rogues, Widows and Orphans
Kathryn Hughes Sunday Times
Financial Times
Anna Aslanyan Spectator
Economist
Henry Eliot, author of THE PENGUIN CLASSICS BOOK
Louise Willder, author of BLURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Mark Mason Daily Mail
Olivia Swarthout, author and creator of WEIRD MEDIEVAL GUYS
Literary Review
Hana Videen, author of THE WORDHORD
Eli Burnstein, author of DICTIONARY OF FINE DISTINCTIONS
Lucy Mangan, author of BOOKISH
A guilty rummage through the dirty laundry basket of the book industry. From writers to publishers and booksellers, the smelly socks, soiled pants and sweaty undergarments are here for your prurient delight. Rogues, Widows and Orphans is a joyous rampage through the petty squabbles, plagiarism, misadventures and plain bad writing behind nearly six centuries of publishing
'
Shaun Bythell, author of THE DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER
Spectator
Adrian Tahourdin TLS
Praise for How Words Get Good:
'Fascinating and funny
'
Sunday Times
Lucy Mangan
Financial Times
Stephen Poole Guardian
Mail on Sunday
Shaun Bythell, author Diary of a Bookseller
Rebecca Lee
Rebecca Lee is an editorial manager at Penguin Random House. She's spent twenty years managing hundreds of high-profile books from delivery of manuscript to finished copies, signing off millions of words as fit to go to print with only the occasional regret.