» John Reed discusses how he reconstructed several Shakespeare plays to create a new tragedy, and his opinions on contemporary literature.

» Listen to other Penguin Podcasts.

» Read more about All the World's a Grave by John Reed

John Reed, All the World's a Grave, Podcast

(View entire post here)

Khaled Hosseini and Ken Follett Are the Most Popular Writers in the World, According to Publishing Trade Magazines

Riverhead’s Khaled Hosseini and Dutton’s Ken Follett have been recognized as the most popular writers globally, according to analysis of the 2008 international fiction bestseller lists published by book trade magazines, including The Bookseller (UK), Publishers Weekly (US) and Livres Hebdo (France).

Hosseini and Follett are the only two writers in the world to have books in the Top 10 fiction lists in seven of nine countries where data was charted. In total, the analysis tallied 387 writers in the Top 10 fiction charts of the nine countries included—France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, China, Spain, Sweden, UK and the US. Only 48 writers had Top 10 hits in more than one territory, with fewer, just 21 authors, charting in three countries or more, making Hosseini’s and Follett’s rankings even more impressive.

To read more information included in the analysis as reported in The Bookseller, click here: here.