Andrew Palmer

A witty, clever, and literary debut novel about love and commitment, celebrity and obsession, poetry and reality TV Reeling from a breakup with his almost-fiancee, the narrator of Andrew Palmer's first novel returns to his hometown in Iowa to house-sit for a family friend. There, a chance flick of the TV remote and a correspondence with an old grad school classmate plunge him into unlikely twin obsessions- the reality TV show The Bachelor and the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Berryman. As his heart begins to mend, his fixation with each deepens and calcifies, and somewhere along the way, art and "reality" become harder and harder to distinguish from life. Love interests accumulate and then fall away- an old girlfriend calls and he answers; he meets a young woman at the dry cleaner. Soon he finds himself corresponding intimately, regularly with other suitors (as Berryman did in his lifetime), participating in a group outing (as The Bachelor does each season), and triying to puzzle through the strange turn his life seems to have taken. A novel that's intellectually ambitious and thought-provoking but also a genuinely absorbing coming-of-age tale, The Bachelor tells the story of finding one's footing in love and art, even as it tunnels deep into our cultural obsession with fame and "reality." If salvation can no longer be found in fame, can it still be found in love and marriage? In an era in which reality TV can make two dozen women love one man in six weeks, where does entertainment end and reality begin? Why do we, season after season, repeat the same mistakes in love and life?

A Novel

The Bachelor

A “witty and wise” (People) debut novel about love and commitment, celebrity and obsession, poetry and reality TV. “Palmer’s novel wryly tracks an earnest interrogation of art and selfhood.”—The New Yorker Reeling from a breakup with his almost fiancée, the narrator of Andrew Palmer’s debut novel returns to his hometown in Iowa to house-sit for a family friend. There, a chance flick of the TV remote and a new correspondence with an old friend plunge him into unlikely twin obsessions: the reality show The Bachelor and the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet John Berryman. As his heart begins to mend, his fascination with each deepens, and somewhere along the way, representations of reality become harder and harder to distinguish from real life. Soon he finds himself corresponding with multiple love interests, participating in an ill-considered group outing, and trying to puzzle through the strange turn his life seems to have taken. An absorbing coming-of-age tale “that marks the debut of a significant talent” (Kirkus Reviews, starred), The Bachelor approaches—with wit and grace—the high-stakes questions of an overconnected world: If salvation can no longer be found in fame, can it still be found in romantic relationships? In an era of reality TV, where does entertainment end and reality begin? And why do we, season after season, repeat the same mistakes in love and life?

There is an increasing need to construct engineering structures in the Arctic seas. The requirement is principally generated by the oil and gas industry, because of the substantial reserves that are known to exist offshore in the Beaufort Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Barents Sea, the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Sakhalin, the Canadian Arctic, and almost certainly elsewhere. Structures have to withstand the severe environmental forces generated by sea ice, a subject that is developing rapidly but is still far from completely understood. Underwater pipelines have to be safe against ice gouging and strudel scour, but also have to be constructed safely and economically. The social and human environment has to be understood and respected.This important book intentionally takes a broad view, and vividly accounts for the many and often subtle interactions between the different factors. It is illustrated by case studies of actual projects.

Arctic Offshore Engineering

This book features interviews with leading and upcoming British composers who use the same raw materials but produce classical music that takes very different forms. Uniquely, Andrew Palmer approaches the sometimes baffling world of contemporary music from the point of view of the inquisitive, music-loving amateur rather than the professional critic or musicologist. Readers can eavesdrop on conversations in which composers are asked a number of questions about their professional lives and practices, with the emphasis on the aesthetic sensibilities and psychological processes behind composing rather than technique. Throughout, the book seeks to explore why composers write the kind of music they write, and what they want their music to do. Along the way, readers are confronted with an unspoken but equally important question: if some composers are writing music that the public doesn't want to engage with, who's to blame for that? Are composers out of touch with their public, or are we too lazy to give their music the attention it deserves? ANDREW PALMER is a freelance writer and photographer. He is editor of Composing in Words: William Alwyn on His Art (Toccata Press, 2009), author of Divas... In Their Own Words (Vernon Press, 2000) and co-author of A Voice Reborn (Arcadia Books, 1999). Since 1998 he has been a corresponding editor of Strings magazine (USA). Interviewees include: Julian Anderson, Simon Bainbridge, Sally Beamish, George Benjamin, Michael Berkeley, Judith Bingham, Harrison Birtwistle, Howard Blake, Gavin Bryars, Diana Burrell, Tom Coult, Gordon Crosse, Jonathan Dove, David Dubery, Michael Finnissy, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Alexander Goehr, Howard Goodall, Christopher Gunning, Morgan Hayes, Robin Holloway, Oliver Knussen, James MacMillan, Colin Matthews, David Matthews, Peter Maxwell Davies, John McCabe, Thea Musgrave, Roxanna Panufnik, Anthony Payne, Elis Pehkonen, Joseph Phibbs, Gabriel Prokofiev, John Rutter, Robert Saxton, John Tavener, Judith Weir, Debbie Wiseman, Christopher Wright

Encounters with British Composers

Sally Minogue

The Remembered Dead explores the ways poets of the First World War - and later poets writing in the memory of that war - address the difficult question of how to remember, and commemorate, those killed in conflict. It looks closely at the way poets struggled to meaningfully represent dying, death, and the trauma of witness, while responding to the pressing need for commemoration. The authors pay close attention to specific poems while maintaining a strong awareness of literary and philosophical contexts. The poems are discussed in relation to modernism and myth, other forms of commemoration (photographs, memorials), and theories of cultural memory. There is fresh analysis of canonical poets which, at the same time, challenges the confines of the canon by integrating discussion of lesser-known figures, including non-combatants and poets of later decades. The final chapter reaches beyond the war's centenary in a discussion of one remarkable commemoration of Wilfred Owen.

Poetry, Memory and the First World War

The Remembered Dead

Explores the ways poets address the difficult question of how to remember, and commemorate, those killed in the First World War and beyond.

Piracy is a significant global threat to international sea-borne trade - the life-blood of modern industrial economies and vital for world economic survival. The pirates of today are constantly in the world's news media, preying on private and merchant shipping from small, high-speed vessels. Andrew Palmer here provides the historical background to the new piracy, its impact on the shipping and insurance industries and also considers the role of international bodies like the UN and the International Maritime Bureau, international law and the development of advanced naval and military measures. He shows how this 'new' piracy is rooted in the geopolitics and socio-economic conditions of the late-20th century where populations live on the margins and where weak or 'failed states' can encourage criminal activity and even international terrorism. Somalia is considered to be the nest of piracy, but hotspots include not only the Red Sea region, but also the whole Indian Ocean, West Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the South China Seas.

Andrew Palmer

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