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j4neh's review
slow-paced
3.0
Not quite what I expected. I listened and found the narration not up to audibles' high standards, a little bit mumbly. Some of the content is interesting but also contains a lot of office and industry politics. I recommend it to those who know or are working in publishing.
apurvanagpal's review
4.0
A Bite of the Apple by Lennie Goodings is a personal journey as a book lover to editor, Publishing director to the chair of @viragopress . She starts with the early days of joining Virago, which was only then established and how everything was built from scratches with a limited pair of hands working in a small room, towards the success it is today.
It was founded in 1973 as a feminist publishing house.
I’ve always been a little curious about the publishing industry and it has honestly peaked while reading this. She shares how crucial decisions went behind every lists, titles, the number of books they cane out with, the backlist or forgotten and even undervalued works by women which needed to be read and appreciated widely.
She takes us through the ups and downs they went through including criticism from the media, financial rifts and the competition of online book selling that affected their growth.
My favourite parts from the book were when she shared intimate experiences working with authors (including Atwood, Angela Carter, Maya Angelou and so many more
It was founded in 1973 as a feminist publishing house.
I’ve always been a little curious about the publishing industry and it has honestly peaked while reading this. She shares how crucial decisions went behind every lists, titles, the number of books they cane out with, the backlist or forgotten and even undervalued works by women which needed to be read and appreciated widely.
She takes us through the ups and downs they went through including criticism from the media, financial rifts and the competition of online book selling that affected their growth.
My favourite parts from the book were when she shared intimate experiences working with authors (including Atwood, Angela Carter, Maya Angelou and so many more
shelf_reflect10n's review
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I love Viragos—I remember searching out the green spines in second-hand bookshops, knowing that even if the author was unfamiliar, I’d enjoy the book. So this was a fun look behind the curtain. Not the most riveting prose or compelling story arc, but a lot of wonderful stories about books and authors I and so many others love.
ascruby's review
3.0
This is definitely a book for book-y people, and those with an interest in publishing and bookselling. It's not a tell-all memoir, filled with juicy gossip - any drama is told with restraint - but instead it offers an interesting look into the creation, success and struggles of a feminist publishing press, and also an accessible perspective on how feminism and the publishing landscape has changed since the 1970s.
sophronisba's review
4.0
The writing is mostly workmanlike, but the story of Virago Press remains worth your time and attention. I found the last chapters in particular invigorating, as Goodings defends the existence of a press devoted to women's writing. "Gendered reading is making a judgement," she writes, "assuming this novel is going to be about things of interest to women only." Later: "We are saying there is no such thing as a limiting female experience and nor is there a male universal one. We are also putting paid to the idea of domestic as pejorative and inferior when it is in the hands of the female novelist."
I have long had mixed feelings about Virago and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Their work is stellar -- the Women's Prize longlist is often stronger than the Booker -- but I sometimes worry that giving women a separate press and separate literary prizes sets them apart, treating them as somehow junior league. Some women novelists, such as A. S. Byatt, simply don't participate in the Women's Prize for this very reason. But Goodings makes a compelling argument against this fear: what these outlets do, she says, is demand that women's writing takes up some of the space that is so often conceded to men.
I have long had mixed feelings about Virago and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Their work is stellar -- the Women's Prize longlist is often stronger than the Booker -- but I sometimes worry that giving women a separate press and separate literary prizes sets them apart, treating them as somehow junior league. Some women novelists, such as A. S. Byatt, simply don't participate in the Women's Prize for this very reason. But Goodings makes a compelling argument against this fear: what these outlets do, she says, is demand that women's writing takes up some of the space that is so often conceded to men.
bookingaround's review
4.0
Thoroughly enjoyable - a glimpse into a piece of publishing history that's warm and engaging but not rose-tinted. I particularly enjoyed the long form pieces on Lennie's relationships with Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter, and my TBR pile has pretty much tripled with all the great suggestions for me to read next!
abbie_'s review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Thank you so much @oxunipressbookshop for gifting me this fascinating history of @viragopress to review! Initially I was sceptical - if it’s not a memoir, I’m usually scared of nonfiction, but I thought I’d give it a go and it paid off! I flew through this one, part memoir, part history of Virago, but definitely more history of the company. If you’re at all interested in the publishing industry, you’ll want to add this one to your list!
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There are so many interesting parts to highlight in this book, starting from the very beginning when they started a publishing house to publish women in the 70s, growing in the 80s when feminism was lightyears from where it is today. As they started to grow, they drew because of the contrast between being a feminist press and still needing to turn a profit to stay afloat and relevant. What’s better, being an independent or being able to continue to publish great works by forgotten women?
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Goodings doesn’t shy away from or deny the mistakes they made too. She doesn’t gloss over the sticky bits. From rifts between directors to criticism for being too white-centric in the 80s, she acknowledges it all and shares how they took it as an opportunity to learn, grow and improve, listening to authors of colour when they told them how they needed to change and implementing those changes. But although publishing has come a long way, there’s a long way to go, and it seems Virago are willing to do the work, in publishing and employment.
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My very favourite parts were when Lennie tells us all about her time spent with two of the great stalwarts of literature: Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou. I could not imagine having to tell Atwood I didn’t like something about her novel!! But they seem like such incredible, inspiring women, always pushing others to be the best they can be. Some of the anecdotes about other, unnamed, authors who were not so affectionate and generous with their editors also made me chuckle!
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A must read if you’re a fan of Virago or are just interested in the publishing industry in general!
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