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| | | Dave and Goliath: maverick writer Eggers makes a stand against Amazon | | by Vanessa Thorpe & Edward Helmore in New York Oct 3, 2021 | | The author likes small bookshops. So he won’t let the online giant sell his new hardback The plight of the high street bookshop, struggling against the power of the online giants, is a common complaint either side of the Atlantic. But not often do the prominent players, the authors and publishers, put their words into action and take a stand against the tide. This month, Dave Eggers, the award-winning campaigning author, is to risk American sales of his new novel, The Every, by limiting access to the hardback copies. Only small bookstores will stock it. Continue reading... | | | | | Ray BLK: Access Denied review – an unabashedly mainstream debut | | by Kitty Empire Oct 3, 2021 | | (Island)
The south Londoner aims to be “the black Madonna” on this taut set of wise words and killer hooks with a distinct sense of place On the back of her Dickens-inspired Havisham EP, south London R&B singer Ray BLK won the BBC’s Sound of 2017 poll, beating Jorja Smith and Rag’n’Bone Man. A clutch of moving songs followed – such as Run, Run and My Hood, the latter featuring a then rising Stormzy. But it’s taken four long years for her debut full-length album to drop – time in which Rita Ekwere has pupated into a different sort of artist. Access Denied is an unabashedly mainstream record, one rattling with trap beats, Afropop and hip-hop-grade grandstanding. The aim, BLK explains in the opener, was always to be “the black Madonna” – but by being entirely herself, making music she would actually listen to. And while this approach brings with it some loss of individuality, the results overall – on the previously released MIA or Over You – remain convincing. Continue reading... | | | | | |
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