Shalimar The Clown
''Shalimar the Clown'' is a 2005 novel by Salman Rushdie. The novel took Rushdie four years to write, and was initially published on 6 September 2005 by Jonathan Cape. ''Shalimar the Clown'' derives its name from Shalimar Garden, in the vicinity of Srinagar. Shalimar is one of several Mughal Gardens, which were laid out in several parts of undivided India when the Mughals reigned over the subcontinent. Shalimar is also the name of one of the characters featured in the novel. ''Shalimar the Clown'' won the 2005 Vodafone Crossword Book Award and was one of the finalists for the 2005 Whitbread Book Awards. Setting The novel is based partly in a small town in the region of Kashmir. The town itself is imaginary, but it is located in an accurate geographic location not far from Srinagar. The title refers to a character in the story, a Kashmiri villager named Shalimar, who performs a tightrope act for the amusement of the other villagers. Plot summary The central character, I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
WikiProject Novels
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is an affinity group for contributors with shared goals within the Wikimedia movement. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within Wikimedia project, sibling projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by ''Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outsi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Chauffeur
A chauffeur () is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or a limousine. Initially, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to specialist chauffeur service companies or individual drivers that provide both driver and vehicle for hire. Some service companies merely offer the driver. History The term ''chauffeur'' comes from the French term for stoker because the earliest automobiles, like their railroad and sea vessel counterparts, were steam-powered and required the driver to stoke the engine. The chauffeur also maintained the car, including routine maintenance and cleaning, and had to be a skilled mechanic to deal with breakdowns and tyre punctures en route, which were very common in the earliest years of the automobile. Only the wealthy could afford the first automobiles, and they generally employed chauffeurs rather than driving themselves. A 1906 article ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Rajiv Joseph
Rajiv Joseph (born June 16, 1974) is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'', and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play ''Describe the Night''. Early life Rajiv Joseph was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. His mother is of French and German ancestry and his father is from the South Indian state of Kerala. He attended Cleveland Heights High School and graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1996 with a B.A. in Creative Writing. While at Miami he was a member of the university's Men's Glee Club and its male a cappella group, the Cheezies. Following graduation Joseph joined the Peace Corps, serving three formative years in the West African Republic of Senegal, including two years in Koular and the third in Kaolack. Joseph has stated about his time there: "Being in Senegal, more than anything else in my life, made me into a writer." His time in Senega ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jack Perla
Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Jack (surname), including a list of people with the surname * Jack (Tekken), multiple fictional characters in the fighting game series ''Tekken'' * Jack the Ripper, an unidentified British serial killer active in 1888 * Wolfman Jack (1938–1995), a stage name of American disk jockey Robert Weston Smith * New Jack, a stage name of Jerome Young (1963–2021), an American professional wrestler * Spring-heeled Jack, a creature in Victorian-era English folklore * Jack (hero), an archetypal Cornish and English hero and stock character Animals and plants Fish *Carangidae generally, including: **Almaco jack **Amberjack **Bar jack ** Black jack (fish) **Crevalle jack **Giant trevally ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Michiko Kakutani
is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese American, was born on January 9, 1955, in New Haven, Connecticut. She is the only child of Yale mathematician Shizuo Kakutani and Keiko "Kay" Uchida. Her father was born in Japan, and her mother was a second-generation Japanese-American who was raised in Berkeley, California. Kakutani's aunt, Yoshiko Uchida, was an author of children's books. Kakutani received her bachelor's degree in English literature from Yale University in 1976.. Career Kakutani initially worked as a reporter for ''The Washington Post'', and then from 1977 to 1979 for ''Time'' magazine. In 1979, she joined ''The New York Times'' as a reporter. Literary critic Kakutani was a literary critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 until her retirement in 2017. She gained part ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Midnight's Children
''Midnight's Children'' is the second novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a postcolonial, postmodern and magical realist story told by its chief protagonist, Saleem Sinai, set in the context of historical events. The style of preserving history with fictional accounts is self-reflexive. ''Midnight's Children'' sold over one million copies in the UK alone and won the Booker Prize and James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981.Mullan, John.Salman Rushdie on the writing of Midnight's Children" ''The Guardian'', 26 July 2008. It was also awarded the special Booker of Bookers prize in 1993, and the Best of the Booker in 2008, to celebrate the Booker Prize's 25th and 40th anniversaries. In 2003 the novel appeared at number 100 on the BBC's The Big Read poll which determined the UK's "best-loved novels" of all time. Ba ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly''. In December 2024, Tortoise Media acquired the paper from the Scott Trust Limited, with the transition taking place on 22 April 2025. History Origins The first issue was published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, making ''The Observer'' the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editori ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Natasha Walter
Natasha Walter (born 20 January 1967) is a British feminist writer and human rights activist. She is the author of a novel, ''A Quiet Life'' (2016), three works of non-fiction: ''Before the Light Fades: A Family Story of Resistance'' (2023, Virago), ''Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism'' (2010, Virago), and ''The New Feminism'' (1998, Virago). She is also the founder of the charity Women for Refugee Women. Background and career Her father was Nicolas Walter, an anarchist and secular humanist writer, while her mother Ruth Walter (née Oppenheim) was a teacher and (later) social worker. Her grandfather was William Grey Walter, a neuroscientist. Her grandparents on her mother's side were refugees from Nazi Germany. Walter read English at St John's College, Cambridge, graduating with a double First, and then won a Frank Knox Fellowship to Harvard.Kira Cochrane"Natasha Walter: 'I believed sexism in our culture would wither away. I was entirely wrong ''The Guardian'', 25 January 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Complete Review
''Complete Review'' (stylized ''complete review'') is a literary website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around the world, but there are also reviews of classics, non-fiction, drama and poetry. As of March 2009, on its tenth anniversary, there were a total of 2251 works under review, averaging over 250 new reviews added per year. A blog, ''Literary Saloon'', was added in August 2002. As of its 10th anniversary in 2009, 95 percent of the reviews were written by the site's founder and managing editor, Michael Orthofer (b. 1964, Austria). From the beginning, it was Orthofer's intention to create an institutionalized persona for the site, and he therefore did not sign his name or even have it anywhere easily visible. However, beginning in 2009 Orthofer, recognizing that he was the majority contributor, announced "posts and reviews will now be signed 'M.A. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bookmarks (magazine)
''Bookmarks'' is a bimonthly American literary magazine dedicated to general readers, book groups, and librarians. It carries the tagline, "For everyone who hasn't read everything." Launched in 2002, ''Bookmarks'' summarizes and distills published book reviews and includes articles covering classic and contemporary authors, "best-of" genre reading lists, reader recommendations, and book group profiles. It was named a "Best New Magazine" shortly after its debut by ''Library Journal''. ''Bookmarks'' magazine is based in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. It was previously headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ... also weighed in on one of the earlier issues; the September/October 2003 issue, which featured a profile on Von ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |