Phoenix-based investment firm Najafi Companies, which bought the ailing North American Direct Group assets (including book club giant Bookspan, along with Columbia House) from Bertelsmann in 2008, has gone back for a second helping. Najafi is also buying DirectGroup France, Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec. Called “a billion-dollar, top-line” business, terms were not disclosed for the deal, expected to close by the end of May. Najafi will continue to operate the Paris-based unit separately, under current management, and intends to “invest significant capital into growing DirectGroup over the next several years, including strengthening its book club model, travel and financial services, […]
BEA11
BEA Shorts: New Kobo Touchscreen Reader; New Twilight Graphic Novel for October
As Borders ceo Mike Edwards recently leaked in part, Monday morning at BEA the Kobo executive team announced their new ereader — a $129.99 model with an eInk Pearl screen—which raises the bar for tomorrow’s announced features and price point for Barnes & Noble’s expected touchscreen ereader. Kobo will have the new model on display starting tomorrow at their BEA booth, and visitors to Borders’ Columbus Square location can test it out between noon and 2 PM Tuesday. Kobo says the new model will ship in early June, though Borders’ release says it won’t ship until July. Kobo’s wi-fi model will […]
Buzz Reviews: Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, by Susan Orlean
Review by Edward Champion Susan Orlean’s work has long circled the eccentric cauldron bubbling above the dutiful fire of American life. Orlean’s journalistic gifts have led her to souls who socialize on Saturday nights, the intoxicating originality of misunderstood artists like The Shaggs, and the wayward passions of orchid collectors. Now Orlean has discovered another effervescent subject hiding in plain sight: a cultural canine with a remarkably resilient heritage. You don’t have to be a dog enthusiast or a couch potato to appreciate this hearty tale, for Rin Tin Tin’s ascent and duration coincides with several high points throughout the […]
Larry Kirshbaum to Lead New Amazon Publishing Operation In New York
Amazon announced to a group of agents Sunday night that Larry Kirshbaum will leave agenting and return to publishing, serving as vp and publisher for Amazon Publishing’s New York office, effective immediately (officially starting July 5). Kirshbaum, who celebrates his birthday on Monday, says “On my sixty-seventh birthday, I’m reinventing myself.” Reporting to Amazon’s Jeff Belle, Kirshbaum is charged with building something that will look like a general trade publisher, with “a specific focus on non-fiction, but also literary fiction,” Belle says, since Amazon has already been rolling out other imprints focused on genre fiction. In the note to agents, […]
The BEA 2011 Party Planner
In keeping with our tradition, here is an overview of the known BEA after-hours celebrants and events so far. If your event is not listed, that means you didn’t let us know–send an e-mail and we’ll update as appropriate. Congratulations and best wishes to all for successful gatherings. Monday, May 23 Jerusalem Book Fair Fellows and Friends Cocktail Party 5:30 – 7:30 Upper East Side Electric Literature and Flavorpill with Harper Perennial Le Bain, The Standard Hotel rooftop (limited capacity; first-come, first-served) 6:00 – 10:00 Young to Publishing: BEA On A Boat, II The Frying Pan Pier 66 at […]
Buzz Reviews: Running The Rift, by Naomi Benaron
Review by Michael Schaub Over 17 years have passed since the world was shocked by the Rwandan Genocide, the systematic murder of hundreds of thousands of citizens of the east African nation. The massacre had its roots in the longstanding blood feud between the country’s main ethnic groups, the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority. After the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu, in 1994, government forces and militias raped and murdered Tutsi citizens (as well as some uncooperative Hutus). These series of atrocities forms the backdrop of Naomi Benaron’s debut novel Running the Rift, the winner of the […]