Pop Culture’s Addiction to its Own Past

Could it be that the greatest danger to the future of our music culture is… its past?

An extract from Simon Reynolds’ Retromania, out this month in paperback via Faber.

An extract from In the Orchard, the Swallows

A tale of tenderness in the face of great and corrupt power, In The Orchard, The Swallows from author Peter Hobbs is a heartbreaking novel written in prose of exquisite stillness and beauty.

Discover The Emperor of Lies

Now published in over twenty languages, Steve Sem-Sandberg’s award winning The Emperor of Lies is one of the great Holocaust novels of the twenty-first century by one of Scandinavia’s most admired authors. Read an extract.

Biography is Dead…

The grand literary biography, alongside the Booker winner, used to be the jewel on an editor’s list. But those days seem to have gone… but according to Faber’s Neil Belton, every once in a while a biographer comes along with a fascinating yet overlooked life, and the potential is clear to all.

Faber’s Cultural Highlights of 2011 – Part Three

The third instalment of Faber’s end-of-year cultural round-up, in which more Faber authors look back and reveal what’s impressed them the most in 2011, whilst also looking forward to what lies in store in 2012… from the likes of Sarah Hall, Alan Glynn, John Lanchester and more.

The Music of 2011

Music journalist and author Simon Reynolds gives us his best of 2011, with some known and not-so-known names in the mix…

Faber’s Cultural Highlights of 2011 – Part Two

The second instalment of Faber’s end-of-year cultural round-up, in which ten more Faber authors look back and reveal what’s impressed them the most in 2011, whilst also looking forward to what lies in store in 2012…

Faber’s Cultural Highlights of 2011 – Part One

Faber asked their authors to tell them a) what most impressed them in 2011, and b) what are they particularly looking forward to in 2012. If you agree – or even disagree – feel free to let us know in the comments…

Solar System: The Book of the App

Solar System has been downloaded about 80,000 times in 10 months. It won The Bookseller 2011 Digital Innovation of the Year as well as Best App of 2011. But, if you were not lucky enough to have an iPad, you were stuck. Not any more.

One Very Funny Group of People, by Mark Yarn

One of the enduring myths of the 1990s is that grunge musicians were a bunch of miserable bastards…

P. D. James shares her appreciation for Jane Austen

In this extended 30-minute interview the author discusses the challenge of taking, Pride and Prejudice, a beloved work of fiction, in a wholly unexpected direction.

P.D. James in conversation

P. D. James introduces and discusses Death Comes to Pemberley

An extract from Death Comes To Pemberley, by P.D. James

In a pitch-perfect recreation of the world of Pride and Prejudice, P. D. James elegantly fuses her lifelong passion for the work of Jane Austen with her talent for writing detective fiction….

Jarvis Cocker Goes Back to School

To celebrate the publication of Mother, Brother, Lover – a compilation of song lyrics spanning 30 years – on 6 October 2011 Jarvis Cocker (Faber’s recently appointed new Editor-at-Large) paid a visit to his old secondary school, The City School in Sheffield, to meet the students…

Undercover with Nicholas Rankin: Ian Fleming’s Commandos

In his new book, Nicholas Rankin gives us the true story of Ian Fleming’s Second World War unit – 30 Assault Unit – from which, in his rank of Commander Ian Fleming RNVR, was born the real-life inspiration for James Bond.

My Father’s Fortune

‘It took him quite a long time to accept that I had some other qualities, abilities, to write and so forth, which in his eyes never really made up for lack of sporting ability, but eventually we found some sort of common ground.’

Daljit Nagra explores Britishness…

Daljit Nagra’s remarkable debut marked the arrival of a thrilling new voice in poetry. In Tippoo Sultan’s Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!!, his second volume, his writing shows every bit the same verve and excitement that made his first book an unmissable event.

DBC Pierre on On Fugu & Late Capitalism

‘Patrons come to touch the shadow of death.’

Discussing Edward Thomas and Gothic Fiction

George Miller discusses gothic fiction with Richard T. Kelly, author of the spine-chilling The Possessions of Doctor Forrest, and talks to Matthew Hollis about his new book, Now All Roads Lead to France, about the final years in the life of war poet Edward Thomas.

A Different Climate

Marek Kohn, author of Turned Out Nice: How the British Isles will Change as the World Heats Up, asks if we should be bothered about our descendants in the future, do we even care about the future, and if we do, how do we save nature, and us?

Who is Lilly Bere?

Earlier this month we posted a great Q & A with Sebastian Barry, author of the Booker longlisted On Canaan’s Side, and his Faber editor, Angus Cargill. Now we have a couple of films of the author himself, filmed at his home in County Wicklow, Ireland.

‘Moscow, We Have a Problem!’

Francis Spufford’s Red Plenty is a book as ambitious as Sputnik, as uncompromising as an Aeroflot flight attendant – and as different from what you were expecting as a glass of Soviet champagne. But, what’s it about?