Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Choices of some very different kinds of books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/GENERAL/OTHER:

Whitbread winner and author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon's A SPOT OF BOTHER, a humorous and disturbing portrait of a dignified 57-year-old man trying to go insane politely, as his daughter decides to marry her inappropriate boyfriend, his wife has an affair with his ex-colleague, and he discovers a sinister rash on his hip, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, for publication in September 2006, by Clare Alexander of Gillon Aitken Associates, to be edited along with Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape (NA).

Carolly Erickson's BIRD OF PARADISE: A NOVEL OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, about the Caribbean seductress whose sexually adventurous life and bold personality led her to the heights as Napoleon's wife and ultimately to the depths of imprisonment, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, in a two-book deal, by Russell Galen at Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency (world English).Translation: barorint@aol.com russellgalen@scglit.com

MYSTERY/CRIME:

Ariana Franklin's THE MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH and THE SERPENT IN THE GARDEN, billed as "Kathy Reichs in the 12th Century," to Rachel Kahan at Putnam, by Helen Heller at Helen Heller Agency (US). helen@helenhelleragency.com

SI-FI/FANTASY:

Beauty author Brian D'Amato's IN THE COURTS OF THE SUN, which begins the day before December 21, 2012, the day the Mayan calender predicted that time would end, to Brian Tart at Dutton, with Julie Doughty editing, in a three-book deal (NA).

UK:

Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman's CATHY'S BOOK, a multi-media, illustrated YA novel, with websites, message boards, and phone numbers, bringing to life a teen girl's daily journal of mystery events covering Chinese mythology, biotech misdeeds, and immortal thugs, licensed to Bloomsbury UK, by Sarah Spencer at Perseus.

Foreign rights to Baumhaus, with paperback rights to DTV in Germany; Mondadori in Italy; Bonnier Carlsen in Sweden; and Politiken in Denmark, by Sarah Spencer at Perseus, Paul & Peter Fritz Agency for Germany, Santachiara Literary Agency for Italy, and Licht & Burr for Scandinavia. sarah.spencer@perseusbooks.com

FOREIGN:

English Canadian rights to French author Celine Curiol's debut THE TERMINAL VOICE, about a lonely young woman who works as an announcer at Paris's Gare du Nord and wanders the streets of the modern city, playing on the edge of danger, seeking connection, to Jennifer Lambert at McClelland & Stewart, in a nice deal, by Elisabeth Beyer at Actes Sud.Rights have been sold in eleven countries. e.beyer@actes-sud.fr

NON-FICTION/BUSINESS/INVESTMENT/FINANCE:

Indian businessman/billionaire Vinay Rai and What Every American Should Know About the Rest of the World author Melissa Rossi's THINK INDIA: A forward-looking account of the rise of India as a world economic and political power as entrepreneurship, education, technology, nuclear power, and a growing middle class transform all aspects of the country, to Trena Keating at Dutton, in a very nice deal, by Bill Gladstone at Waterside Productions (World).
[NOTE: BILL GLADSTONE KICKED OFF THE "DUMMIES" BOOKS! HE'S QUITE A GUY. :)]

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Former Washington Post journalist and bureau chief for South Africa and South America Jon Jeter's GHETTO RISING, revealing the underbelly of globalization in an account of the rise of ghettos around the world, to Alane Mason at Norton, in a very nice deal, by David Fugate at LaunchBooks Literary Agency (World).ekerr@wwnorton.com

Richard Wightman Fox's LINCOLN'S BODY, a history of the three-week period of national mourning during which Lincoln's corpse was toured around America by train, revealing the tensions in 19th century American culture, to Alane Salierno Mason at Norton, in a very nice deal, by Jill Kneerim at Kneerim & Williams (World).ekerr@wwnorton.com

HUMOR:

Kyle Macdonald's ONE RED PAPERCLIP, blending Napoleon Dynamite and Anthony Robbins, the story of how the author turned a simple red paperclip into the house of his dreams, to Jason Pinter at Three Rivers Press, by Marc Gerald and Brandon Stein at The Agency Group.
Foreign rights to Jake Lingwood at Ebury UK, in a pre-empt; and Oscar van Gelderen at Rothschild & Bach, in a pre-empt.marcgerald@theagencygroup.com

MEMOIR:

Japanese General Kumiko Kakehashi's SO SAD TO FALL IN BATTLE, a memoir of his life and of the battle of Iwo Jima from the viewpoint of the Japanese commander, soon to be an integral part of Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima film, to Ron Doering at Presidio, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House (world English).

NARRATIVE:

David Howard's LOST RIGHTS, going inside the world of historical documents -- a world of obsessives, archivists, and thieves -- through the story of an original copy of the Bill of Rights, stolen from the North Carolina statehouse during the Civil War and recovered 130 years later in an FBI sting, to Webster Younce at Houghton, at auction, by Jeremy Katz at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (NA).

Hobson Woodward's WILD WATERS: The True Tale of the Shipwreck that Inspired Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST, combining elements of WILL IN THE WORLD and MAYFLOWER, that takes as its hero the hapless Elizabethan writer, adventurer, and friend to John Donne, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare, William Strachey, to Hilary Redmon at Viking, by Patricia Moosbrugger at Patricia Mossbrugger Literary Agency (NA). hilary.redmon@us.penguingroup.com

POP CULTURE:

THE COLOR PURPLE: A MEMORY BOOK, an illustrated companion to the musical version now on Broadway, and a reflection of the journey from Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to the theatrical stage, with a foreword by Oprah Winfrey, and the participation of Walker and the entire creative team, to Will Balliett at Carroll & Graf, for publication in fall 2006, produced by Melcher Media.

SPORTS:

USA Today columnist and author of The Jump Ian O'Connor's THE KING AND THE BEAR, about the rivalry between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, an extraordinary five-decade duel that took place on the course and in the boardroom and that shaped modern golf into the competitive spectator sport it has become, to Susan Canavan at Houghton Mifflin, by David Black and the David Black Literary Agency (NA).

Author of Baseball by the Beach and Boston Metro sportswriter Christopher Price's THE BLUEPRINT: HOW THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS BEAT THE SYSTEM TO BECOME THE NFL'S LAST GREAT SUPERPOWER, an inside look at how the Pats went from laughingstock to NFL legends, in a Moneyball-esque account, to Peter Wolverton at Thomas Dunne Books, by Frank Scatoni of Venture Literary (NA).frank@ventureliterary.com

GENERAL/OTHER:

In the Merde For Love author Stephen Clarke's TALK TO THE SNAIL: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French, how to understand what the French really think, how to get on with them and, most importantly, how to get the best out of them, to Colin Dickerman at Bloomsbury, by Susanna Lea at Susanna Lea Associates.
Rights already sold to Transworld in the UK; Penguin in Canada; Random House in Australia.

FILM:

Richard Lewis's THE KILLING SEA, about an Indonesian boy and an American girl who are brought together in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 tsunami while the boy searches for his missing father and the girl tries to get medical treatment for her sick brother, optioned to Fox 2000, on behalf of Scott Free (Ridley and Tony Scott), in a pre-empt, by Sarah Self at The Gersh Agency, on behalf of Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.[NOTE: THE FOLKS AT TRIDENT MEDIA GROUP ARE GOOD PEOPLE.]

Wrap...

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