Grumpy Old Bookman
title: "Grumpy Old Bookman" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["essays-in-literary-criticism", "british-literature-websites", "2004-establishments"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumpy_Old_Bookman" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
Grumpy Old Bookman is a literary blog started by Michael Allen in late March 2004. A number of the essays and reviews posted there were brought together in his 2005 book Grumpy Old Bookman.
Background
The Grumpy Old Bookman is aimed at both readers and writers, and the content deals almost entirely with books and publishing, including such issues as advances for writers and the quality of publishers' review processes. It soon acquired a reputation for plain speaking and controversy. A typical entry will either be a lengthy review of a book, or the author's thoughts on some aspect of the book world, inspired by an item of recent news.
Reception
In February 2005 the GOB blog was listed by The Guardian as one of the top ten literary blogs.
In November 2007 Allen announced on his blog that he was taking a "sabbatical".
He resumed blogging in May 2012.
In 2021, Allen announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
References
References
- (22 March 2007). "Knarrig gammal man". Svensk Bokhandel.
- (25 November 2006). "Novelist, 6, puts publisher in record books". [[The Scotsman]].
- "The Romance of Money - GalleyCat".
- Sullivan, Jane. (29 January 2006). "Pity publishers in the fickle world of fiction". [[The Age]].
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050207013315/http://books.guardian.co.uk/links/areas_of_interest/general/links/0%2C6135%2C1406190%2C00.html Guardian Unlimited Books' top 10 literary blogs: Our pick of the best the online books community has to offer] at ''[[the Guardian]]'' (via [[archive.org]]); published 7 February 2005; retrieved April 19, 2014
- [http://grumpyoldbookman.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/sabbatical.html Sabbatical], at Grumpy Old Bookman; by Michael Allen; published 25 November 2007; retrieved 19 April 2014
- [http://grumpyoldbookman.blogspot.co.uk/2012_05_01_archive.html Well, I'm back], at Grumpy Old Bookman; by Michael Allen; published 12 May 2012; retrieved 19 April 2014
- [https://grumpyoldbookman.blogspot.com/2021/08/mr-fenman-rides-again.html Mr Fenman Rides Again], by Michael Allen, at ''[[Grumpy Old Bookman]]''; published August 22, 2021; retrieved October 31, 2024
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