The man who made countless national secrets transparent without permission now faces a bit of turnabout, as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s memoir is set to be published tomorrow, over the author’s apparent objection. Canongate will release the book in the UK, but will present it as “an unauthorized biography” since by their own account the author wanted to cancel the contract. Canongate says Assange “had already signed his advance over to his lawyers to settle his legal bills” and did not pay them back, so the house “decided to honour that contract and to publish. Once the advance has been […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
The Posthumous Files: James Cain, Reynolds Price, and Gerald Schoenfeld
In the ample flow of deal news, this week’s reports include a trio of posthumous publications: Hard Case Crime will publish James M. Cain‘s THE COCKTAIL WAITRESS, a previously unpublished manuscript that he was still working on upon his death in 1977. Founder and editor Charles Ardai told the NYT he was tipped off to the manuscript’s existence by Max Allan Collins, but it took him five years to obtain a copy and several years more to convince Cain’s estate to let him publish the book, which will appear as a hardcover in fall 2012. NYT Scribner will publish a […]
Madoff Book Acknowledged, Palin Publicity Continues
Little, Brown’s poorly-veiled Madoff book, sold to the trade in July as Untitled by Anonymous, has had its pub date moved up two weeks, to October 31. The publisher now acknowledges what was reported in July–the book, TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES: Life Inside the Madoff Family, is by Laurie Sandell, and promises “extensive, exclusive interviews” with Andrew Madoff, his fiancee Catherine Hooper, Ruth Madoff and others. A 60 Minutes segment will air October 30. In other forthcoming books, the NYT follows short, lurid leaks from Joe McGinniss’s THE ROGUE with a pre-publication review–which actually gives you a sense of why the […]
The Promotional Files: Doonesbury Features Short McGinnis Book Quotes
Doonesbury offers a new twist in books excerpts–and controversy–this week. The comic strip is featuring short quotes from Joe McGinniss’s forthcoming book on Sarah Palin, THE ROGUE (with a 9/20 publication date). A chief of staff says “Sarah just isn’t comfortable in the presence of dark-skinned people,” and the head of her security detail as governor says, “You know what she was? A housewife who happened to be governor.” Andrew Sullivan says at The Beast that “McGinniss sent advance copies of his devastating book on Sarah Palin to three people: me, Garry Trudeau and Rosanne Cash. Make of that what […]
Briefs: JK Rowling Anthology Intro; USA Today Fall Books Preview; and More
JK Rowling will write the foreword to Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self, edited by Joseph Galliano (Atria) which will be released on October 25. In the foreword Rowling writes that she was touched by the letters’ “commonality … Nearly everyone who wrote, whether their letter is jolly or poignant, seems to have looked back on their younger selves with compassion.” A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. USA Today Speaking of USA Today, their Fall Books Preview highlights 31 titles, with special emphasis on upcoming, much-covered titles by Susan Orlean, Colson […]
CIA Demands Extensive Cuts To Former FBI Agent’s 9/11 Book
Former FBI agent Ali H. Soufan’s THE BLACK BANNERS: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al Qaeda is scheduled to be published on September 12 by Norton, but the version that will hit the market will be heavily redacted thanks to a number of objections from the CIA. According to the NYT, Soufan’s memoir, written with Daniel Freedman, argues “that the CIA missed a chance to derail the 2001 plot by withholding from the F.B.I. information about two future 9/11 hijackers living in San Diego,” and also offers a firsthand account of the agency’s move towards brutal […]