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Harvill Secker acquires blogger debut

20.09.12 | Charlotte Williams

Harvill Secker has acquired a non-fiction debut about reading by blogger Ann Morgan, making a pre-emptive offer to secure the deal. 

Editorial director Michal Shavit bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to Reading the World: Postcards from my Bookshelf from Caroline Hardman at Hardman & Swainson. Harvill Secker will publish in summer 2014.

The book charts Morgan's progress as she sets about reading a book from each country in the world—only to realise she had also to answer the questions, "What is a country?" and "What do we mean by the term 'book'?".

Shavit said: "Ann Morgan's journey is a cultural map of the world through books. Importantly, it's also about how place-the world and the countries dividing or uniting it-shapes the books we read and write. It's at the very heart of what Harvill Secker is about. We couldn't be more delighted to have acquired this brilliant debut."

The publisher said the book will appeal to Bill Bryson, Nick Hornby, Elif Batuman and Anne Fadiman readers.

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