Author:Cory Arcangel
What does it feel like to try and create something new? How is it possible to find a space for the demands of writing a novel in a world of instant communication?
Working on My Novel is about the act of creation and the gap between the different ways we express ourselves today. Exploring the extremes of making art, from satisfaction and even euphoria to those days or nights when nothing will come, it's the story of what it means to be a creative person, and why we keep on trying.
An epically brilliant work by a great American artist and author
—— Jonah Peretti, co-founder of BuzzfeedIt is hard to imagine a book more of its time than Working on My Novel... Arcangel has reflected something poignant about this collective yearning for creative individuation, about how technology seems to facilitate self-expression while effecting a strange obliteration of the individual-a symbolic compression of the self into the repository of the personal brand... The playful suggestion here seems to be that Working on My Novel is itself actually a novel
—— New YorkerArcangel's work regularly uses appropriation, whether it's hacking video games, excavating Andy Warhol old computer console illustrations or creating hi-tech art inspired by Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone". Working On My Novel sticks to those themes of endless recycling, transferring one form of media to create another - and as always, it's pretty funny
—— Dazed and ConfusedCan't wait to finish this : ) so can work on my #novel
—— Mark Sinclair , Creative ReviewThe tweets were found by searching Twitter for the phrase "working on my novel," and originally compiled at Arcangel's twitter account, @wrknonmynovel. Seriously meta. And seriously funny-sad
—— io9.comFor some, Twitter is both a distraction and a medium for a peculiar type of written soliloquy. It's the confluence of those two streams that makes artist Cory Arcangel's new book, Working on my Novel, particularly poignant
—— The VergeMan. I wish I'd come up with that idea. #amwriting
—— EngadgetA fascinating...very readable study of the mysterious art and business of translation...Bellos asks big questions...and comes up with often surprising answers...sparky, thought-provoking
—— NigenessForget the fish-it's David Bellos you want in your ear when the talk is about translation. Bellos dispels many of the gloomy truisms of the trade and reminds us what an infinitely flexible instrument the English language (or any language) is. Sparkling, independent-minded analysis of everything from Nabokov's insecurities to Google Translate's felicities fuels a tender-even romantic-account of our relationship with words.
—— —NATASHA WIMMER, translator of Roberto Bolaño’s Savage Detectives and 2666Is That a Fish in Your Ear? offers a lively survey of translating puns and poetry, cartoons and legislation, subtitles, news bulletins and the Bible
—— Matthew Reisz , Times Higher Education SupplementPlease read David Bellos's brilliant book
—— Michael Hofmann , GuardianA clear and lively survey...This book fulfils a real need; there is nothing quite like it.
—— Robert Chandler , SpectatorIn his marvellous study of the nature of translation...[David Bellos] has set out to make it fun...Essential reading for anyone with even a vague interest in language and translation - in short, it is a triumph
—— Shaun Whiteside , IndependentA dazzyingly inventive book
—— Adam Thirlwell , New York TimesWitty and perceptive...stimulating, lucid, ultimately cheering
—— Theo Dorgan , Irish TimesSuperbly smart, supremely shrewd
—— Carlin Romano , The Chronicle ReviewSelected as a National Book Critics' Circle Award Criticism Finalist 2011
—— NBCCPersonal and affectionate tribute
—— Sally Morris , Daily MailAffectionate, familial tribute to this many-sided man.
—— The Catholic Herald