Selecting Films and Books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Daniel Serrano's GUNMETAL BLACK, following a recently paroled gangster who returns to the mean streets of his Chicago neighborhood, determined to save his best friend from a life of crime and find the man responsible for murdering his father when he was a boy, to Karen Thomas at Warner, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2008, by Jennifer Cayea at Avenue A Literary.www.avenuealiterary.com

Governor General's Award non-fiction finalist Jack Todd's SUN GOING DOWN, following four generations of the author's family in the American West, from the Civil War to the Great Depression, inspired by old family diaries and letters that tell the story of an itinerate merchant and gold hunter who fathers twin boys whose adventures as horse thieves lead them to become some of the largest landowners in the west, to Trish Todd at Touchstone Fireside (they're both from Nashville, and are trying to find out if their families are related somehow), by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists (US).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Leif Enger's second novel SO BRAVE, YOUNG AND HANDSOME, a tale of passion and adventure in early 20th century America, about an aging train robber, pursued again after years of obscurity, seeking to reconcile the claims of love and judgment on his life, to Elisabeth Schmitz and Morgan Entrekin at Grove/Atlantic, for publication in early 2008, by Paul Cirone at Friedrich Agency.

CANADA:

Sadie Jones' THE OUTCAST, to Diane Martin at Knopf Canada, by Anne McDermid, on behalf of Caroline Wood at the Felicity Bryan Agency.Winner of the Prix Femina Nancy Huston's BIRTH MARK, to Kim McArthur at McArthur & Company, by Rosalie Siegel.Thomas Wharton's THE PERILOUS REALM, in which an angry teen stumbles into the land where stories come from and while trying to get back home, he is drawn into a tale of wonders and terrible danger, to Lara Hinchberger at Doubleday Canada, in a very nice deal, by Lynn Bennett at Transatlantic Literary Agency.lynn@tla1.com

FILM:
Marisha Pessl's SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS, optioned to Miramax and producer Scott Rudin, by Susan Golomb at Susan Golomb Agency.

Film rights to Alan Cowell's SASHA'S STORY: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy, to Warner Bros., with Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil producing, by Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management.NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY:

Ignacio Ramonet's CASTRO: MY LIFE, interviews with Fidel Castro that portray his life from the early 1950s to the present day while discussing his views on a number of controversial questions, from human rights and freedom of the press to the repression of homosexuality and the survival of the death penalty, to Colin Robinson at Scribner, in a very nice deal, by Sarah Hunt Cooke at Penguin UK (US).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko's DEATH OF A DISSIDENT: Alexander Litvinenko and the Death of Russian Democracy, the story of the murdered former KGB agent from his widow and a friend, to Bruce Nichols at Free Press and Andrew Gordon at Simon & Schuster UK, for publication in May 2007, by Ed Victor at Ed Victor (world).Film rights to Columbia Pictures and director Michael Mann, with Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher at Red Wagon producing, in a major deal, for $500,000 against $1.5 million, by Ed Victor at Ed Victor.

Medieval historian Nancy Goldstone's THE ORNAMENT OF ITALY, the story of the thirty-year reign of Joanna I, queen of Naples, who was accused of the grisly murder of her husband after she took the throne and forced to stand trial at age 20 for her life in front of the pope -- and went on to prevail over her enemies, weathering war, murder, treason, and plague before finally retrieving her rightful inheritance, to George Gibson at Walker, by Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management (US; German).

MEMOIR:

Steve Martin's first nonfiction book BORN STANDING UP, a memoir of his early years as a stand-up comedian and a portrait of an era, to Nan Graham at Scribner, by Esther Newberg of ICM (world).katherine.monaghan@simonandschuster.com

NARRATIVE:

National Book Award winner Tim Egan's THE BIG BURN, about the largest forest fire in American history, a blaze that killed 86 people and charred three million acres in Montana and Idaho in the summer of 1910 -- and ultimately changed American conservation, prompting a reluctant Congress to give the Forest Service the power to oversee the forests of the West, to Anton Mueller at Houghton Mifflin, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2009, by Carol Mann at the Carol Mann Agency (world).lori_glazer@hmco.com

CANADA/NON-FICTION:

Heather Pringle's IN THE PRIZE: The Battle to Save the World's Ancient Shipwrecks, examining how commercial treasure hunters are turning to the oceans as the last great frontier of archeological discovery, and the threats to science and history arising from this unregulated exploitation, to Chris Bucci of McClelland & Stewart, for publication in September 2009, by Anne McDermid.

Kevin Patterson and Jane Warren, ed.'s OUTSIDE THE WIRE, an anthology of first-person narrative writing about the war in Afghanistan by and about Canadian soldiers serving there, with a foreword by Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire (Ret), to Anne Collins at Random House Canada, for publication in fall 2007, by Anne McDermid Associates.

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