Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Fiction to non-fiction in films and books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Kirsten Menger-Anderson's DR. OLAF VAN SCHULER'S BRAIN, a collection of linked short stories tracing a family of doctors in New York City from 1664 through the present day, to Antonia Fusco at Algonquin, in a nice deal, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (World). ebridburg@zshliterary.com

THRILLER:

NYT bestselling author of BLINDFOLD GAME and the Edgar Award winning Kate Shugak mystery series Dana Stabenow's PREPARED FOR RAGE, to Kelley Ragland at St. Martin's, in a two-book deal, by Rich Henshaw at Richard Henshaw Group (world).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Jenny McPhee's A MAN OF NO MOON, the story of Italian poet Dante Omero Sabato and his romantic entanglement with two sisters, both American actresses, in post-war-Italy -- narrated by Dante, to Amy Schiebe at Counterpoint, in a very nice deal, by Kimberly Witherspoon and David Forrer at Inkwell Management (world, excluding UK).

FILM:

David Klass' sci-fi young-adult novel FIRESTORM, to Warner Bros., with Basil Iwanyk's Thunder Road producing.

Christopher John Farley's first novel MY FAVORITE WAR, a love triangle about a young African American newspaper reporter unexpectedly sent to cover the Gulf War, optioned to producer Michele Barnwell for a TV series, by Caron Knauer at Caron K Literary Enterprises.

Film rights to Martin Kihn's A$$HOLE: How I Got Rich & Happy By Not Giving a F*** About You, to Warner Bros., in an outright purchase, in a major deal, in a pre-empt, by Kassie Evashevski and Zeke Steiner at Brillstein-Grey, on behalf of Daniel Lazar at Writers House, in advance of closing on book rights, which is expected shortly.

BIOGRAPHY:

Harriet Reisen's LOUISA MAY ALCOTT: The Real Woman Who Wrote Little Women, a look at her childhood friendships with Transcendentalist luminaries Emerson and Thoreau, secret authorship of pulp fiction, radical abolitionist views, heroic service as a Civil War nurse, and the story of how the classic Little Women came to be, to coincide with her documentary film that airs on PBS in Spring 2008, to Jennifer Barth at Holt, by Jennifer Joel at ICM (world English). claire.mckinney@hholt.com.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Author of the BusinessWeek bestseller THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST, and an editorial writer at the FT Tim Harford's second book, THE LOGIC OF LIFE, which will use cutting-edge economic thinking to analyze seemingly irrational human behavior -- everything from using drugs and having unprotected sex to threatening nuclear war -- and reveal the hidden logic behind it, to Tim Bartlett at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Sally Holloway of the Felicity Bryan Agency (US). UK rights to Little, Brown, and Canadian rights to Doubleday Canada; foreign language rights are handled by Andrew Nurnberg Associates.

Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen's TO CATCH A PREDATOR, building on this year's Dateline series, an expose on catching child predators, the legal system's handling of the criminals, and the families involved on both sides, with commentary from psychological and criminal experts, to Trena Keating at Dutton, in a pre-empt, by Sloan Harris at ICM (NA).trena.keating@us.penguingroup.com

David Aquila Lawrence's KURDISTAN: The Prodigal Republic, a profile of "the invisible nation" of Kurdistan - which the author thinks, in the next couple of years, may become a nation in fact, to George Gibson at Walker, in a nice deal, by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic (NA).ggibson@walkerbooks.com

Journalists Sharon Weinberger and Nathan Hodge's A NUCLEAR FAMILY VACATION: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry, chronicling visits to the major sites of nuclear research, development, and testing in the United States and Russia and linking the arms race of the 20th century with today's issues of weapons of mass destruction and world-wide nuclear proliferation, to Colin Dickerman at Bloomsbury, at auction, by Michelle Tessler at Tessler Literary Agency (NA). michelle@tessleragency.com

LIFESTYLE:

Karen Karbo's HOW TO HEPBURN, drawing lessons from the life of one of the great female icons of the twentieth century -- a smart and entertaining blend of no nonsense Hepburn style commentary, to Karen Rinaldi at Bloomsbury, in a nice deal, by Kimberly Witherspoon and David Forrer at Inkwell Management (NA).

MEMOIR:

Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis's NO EXCUSES, written with NFL.com writer Vic Carucci, including insights on the game, stories of his days as an assistant to Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, and accounts of his triumphs and of overcoming personal tragedies and triumphs, to Mauro DiPreta at Harper Entertainment, for publication in October 2006, by Bob LaMonte of Professional Sports Representation (world).debbie.stier@harpercollins.com

Susan Winemaker's CONCERTINA: An Erotic Memoir of Indulgent Tastes and Extreme Desires, the memoir of a young chef in London who becomes a dominatrix and learns to satisfy a different sort of taste, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, at auction, by Ivan Mulcahy at Mulcahy & Viney (US).

Barbara Walters' memoir, resold to Knopf, for less money than Miramax had paid, though "in the same league" (the original figure was never established, and was guessed to range anywhere from $4 million to $6 million), by Mort Janklow at Janklow & Nesbit.

Iraqi poet Nabeel Yasin's Nabeel's SONG, about his family's experiences in Iraq before, during and after the Hussein era, as he watched the from exile in Europe, to Charlie Conrad for Doubleday, for publication in summer 2007, by Sloan Harris at ICM, on behalf of Kate Jones at ICM (US).

SCIENCE:

Gavin Pretor-Pinney's follow-up to the current London Times bestseller THE CLOUDSPOTTER'S GUIDE, on the subject of waves, again to Marian Lizzi at Perigee, in a good deal, by Emma Parry at Fletcher & Parry, on behalf of Conville & Walsh.Marian.Lizzi@us.penguingroup.com.

TRUE CRIME:

Greg Scarpa, Jr.'s MAFIA SON, as told to co-author of ELVIS AND ME Sandra Harmon from a maximum security prison, include details of his life growing up as the son of one of the most violent Mob figures of all time, Greg Scarpa, Sr., and his claims that he worked for the FBI as an informant behind bars and provided key information about 9/11 that was subsequently ignored, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, by Larry Kirshbaum by LJK Literary Management and co-agent Joel Gotler at The Firm (world).John.murphy@stmartins.com

Wrap...

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