After Simon & Schuster launched lawsuits to recover advance money from rappers L’il Kim and Foxy Brown, Miramax is trying the same thing with Alison Pearson, the Daily Mail columnist and author of the 2003 bestseller I Don’t Know How She Does It. They allege Pearson signed a contract five years for an unpublished novel titled I Think I Love You, accepting a $700,000 advance. The suit, filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court, said although Pearson accepted the money in August 2003 under a two-year contract she failed to deliver the novel and ignored requests by Miramax since 2006 […]
Authors
Tan, Houellebecq Venture Outside Novel Territory
There’s been much ink spilled over the past few days about the San Francisco Opera’s upcoming production of Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, with Tan writing the libretto herself after director Stuart Wallace “badgered” her into it, saying the novel “must be an opera.” As for her hopes for the opera, she tells Newsweek “part of it has been fulfilled already, as I’ve had this amazing musical experience. If people respond enthusiastically, I’ll be grateful. But even terrible reviews cannot diminish its success for me personally. It will hurt, but I won’t regret doing what’s been so fulfilling.” Meanwhile, reactions […]
On Mahmoud Darwish, 67
The Palestinian poet, author and politician died Saturday night in Houston from complications following heart surgery. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning yesterday for the man he deemed “the pioneer of the modern Palestinian cultural project.”NYTGuardian
Coelho on His "Online Journey"
Novelist Paulo Coelho writes in the New Statesman about his decade-long adventures in connecting with fans and readers electronically. His starting point was significantly different from that of many of his peers: “in my case, I was never very keen on the notion of the reclusive author working in solitude, and have always tried to interact with my readers. So I’ve spent a lot of time on my website, knowing that it is one of the rare public platforms, besides the traditional book signing, open to me.” That genuine desire for constructive engagement with his audience, and a creative willingness […]
Rushdie Threat Buys a Week
We scoffed, but UK publisher John Blake is postponing publication of ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE until August 11 so that Salman Rushdie can read the book. Founder John Blake tells the Bookseller, “We are hoping when he reads it, and sees that it’s fair, he will withdraw his objections. When he reads the whole thing, I’m sure he’ll feel it’s a great book . . . he’ll probably have a chuckle.” We’ll take that bet.Bookseller
Rushdie Takes the Bait; Threatens to Sue
File it under smart people who do dumb things. Instead of ignoring, or laughing off, the book ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE by Ron Evans, who guarded Rushdie when he was in hiding, the knighted author is threatening to sue–which doesn’t really invalidate the book’s assertions. Rushdie tells the Guardian, “He is portraying me as mean, nasty, tight-fisted, arrogant and extremely unpleasant. In my humble opinion I am none of those things.” He gives them paragraphs of quotes and denials, culminating in this: “This is not a free speech issue, this is libel – there is a difference between those two […]