Alexander Starritt (born 1985) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

novelist, journalist and entrepreneur. Starritt was educated at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

. He came to public attention in 2017 with the release of his debut novel ''The Beast''. He was also one of the founding team on the policy platform Apolitical, which in 2018 was listed by US business magazine ''Fast Company'' as one of the World's 'Most Innovative Companies'. Starritt has also published several translations from German, including works by

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. Zweig was raised in V ...

and

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

. In 2020 he published ''We Germans'', a novel about Germans defeated on the Eastern Front of World War II.

''The Beast''

''The Beast'' is a satire of British

tabloid journalism Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

. It has been described by critics as a successor to Evelyn Waugh's novel ''

Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The Scoop may refer to: Artefacts * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (theater), a type of wide area l ...

''. It tells the story of a downtrodden

sub-editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (" copy") to improve quality and readability, as well as ensuring that a text is free of errors in grammar, style, and accuracy. ''The Ch ...

, Jeremy Underwood, who notices two figures dressed in burqas outside the offices of the tabloid newspaper where he works. When he mentions this to his colleagues, their paranoia and hunger for a story take over. ''The Beasts journalists come to believe they are the target of an imminent

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

attack and events quickly escalate out of control. The novel deals with themes such as the rapaciousness of the tabloids, the decline of print journalism, and

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

in the British media. Several critics have pointed out that the novel contains a great deal of affection for the world it describes. For example, te Scottish journalist Hugh Macdonald, reviewing the novel in '' The National'', wrote, "This may not be a love letter to the ailing print media but it will serve as an elegy."

Bibliography

Books

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Translations

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TEDx lectures

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starritt, Alexander Living people 1985 births Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford German male writers Scottish writers