A roundup of books...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Laureen Vonnegut's first novel, OASIS, set in Morocco, a fever dream of a novel spun from the threads of murder, survival, conspiracy and rebirth that centers around a Russian beauty, her dead Moroccan husband, and an endless stretch of desert punctuated by a tiny oasis of bizarre and untrustworthy characters, to Amy Scheibe at Counterpoint, for publication in October 2006, by Joe Regal at Regal Literary (world).

Journalist Nicholas Kulish's LAST ONE IN, in which a New York City tabloid's war correspondent is hit by a truck in Manhattan just as the war in Iraq is about to begin, causing the paper's editor to send their gossip columnist to join the Marines in his place, to Lee Boudreaux of Ecco, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

Film rights to Mike Deluca for Columbia Pictures, by Shari Smiley at CAA.rights@rusoffagency.com

BIOGRAPHY:

Michael Takiff's BILL: AN ORAL BIOGRAPHY OF AMERICA'S CHARISMATIC, CONTROVERSIAL, CONFOUNDING 42nd PRESIDENT, in which Bill Clinton is revealed through the recollections of friends and foes, high school teachers and secretaries of state, to construct a mosaic that covers his youth, university years, governorship, and presidency, ending with his role today as the world's First Citizen and his potential role tomorrow as America's First Gentleman, to Christopher Rogers at Yale University Press, by Craig Kayser at the Kayser Pierce Literary Agency.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Authors of NYT bestseller JAWBREAKER, ex-CIA commander Gary Berntsen and co-author Ralph Pezzullo's TAKEDOWN, about the first international terrorist group, the Japanese Red Army, one of whose leaders was captured by Berntsen, emphasizing lessons learned and their application to modern terrorist hunting, again to Rick Horgan at Crown, for publication in fall 2007, by Harvey Klinger at Harvey Klinger (world).

Anna Reid's BLOKADA, the first full history of The Siege of Leningrad one of the most tragic episodes of World War II, and indeed of human history, claiming between 160,000 and 200,000 Soviet lives, not to mention German ones, to George Gibson at Walker, on an exclusive submission, by Michael Carlisle of Inkwell Management, on behalf of Robinson Literary Agency, the first US deal for Robinson (US).michael@inkwellmanagement.com peter@rlabooks.co.uk

Investor turned filmmaker James Scurlock's MAXED OUT, a tour of the underbelly of debt in the 21st century, to Brant Rumble at Scribner, at auction, publication to be coordinated with documentary film's release after the sale of rights at South by Southwest, by Melissa Flashman at Trident Media Group (NA; translation).mflashman@tridentmediagroup.com

MEMOIR:

Mukhtar Mai's French bestseller IN THE NAME OF HONOR, to Judith Curr at Atria, with Wendy Walker editing, by Susanna Lea Associates, on behalf of Philippe Robinet at Oh! Editions (NA). (Rights have also been sold in Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Israel, and Sweden.)kglencorse@susannalea.com

NARRATIVE:

Barbara Moran's THE DAY WE LOST THE H-BOMB: The True Story of a Missing Bomb and the Race to Find It, the history of our massive Cold War military -- with all of its characters, danger, intrigue, and in-fighting -- through a little-known nuclear accident in 1966, which had worldwide repercussions for both U.S. defense policy and ocean science, to Ron Doering at Presidio, in a pre-empt, by Michelle Tessler at Tessler Literary Agency (world).michelle@tessleragency.com

POP CULTURE:

Photographer Ethan Russell's LET IT BLEED: The Rolling Stone 1969 Tour of America, never-before-published photographs, combined with contemporaneous text and interviews with the sixteen people who made the complete, fateful tour that ended an era at Altamont Speedway, to David Dorn at Rhino (Warner Music Group), for a limited edition only, by Alan Nevins at The Firm.Rights: anevins@firmentertainment.net

FILM:

John Hubner's LAST CHANCE IN TEXAS: The Redemption of Criminal Youth, to Leslie Neill at Last Chance Films, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.mbourret@dystel.com

Wrap...