Strange and wonderful books...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Patricia Wood's LOTTERY, the story of a 32 year-old, mentally challenged man, whose life is forever changed when he wins 12 million dollars in the lottery, discovering who his true friends are and the deep reserve of his own abilities, to Peternelle Van Arsdale at Putnam, at auction, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Agency (NA).Rights sold previously to Jason Arthur and Susan Sandon at Heinemann in the UK; Arena in Holland; Keter in Israel; and Sonzogno in Italy, in pre-empts.

SCI-FI/FANTASY:

Warren Ellis's second novel LISTENER, a near-future sci-fi tale about a British journalist who has been embedded with audio implants, turning him into an objective "listening post," sent to investigate the last outpost of life in the US after it has been decimated by a military biological weapon, to Jeremy Cesarec at William Morrow, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (NA).Film: Angela Cheng Caplan

GENERAL/OTHER:

Author of The Music Lesson and Triangle Katharine Weber's TEMPER, a multi-generational novel about a family's candy business and the struggle, between father and son, over succession, and a memoir, SYMPTOMS OF FICTION, featuring her grandmother composer Kay Swift, grandfather lyicist James P. Warburg, her father ("a crackpot filmmaker with an 800-page FBI file") and more, following John Glusman to Harmony, by Gloria Loomis at Watkins Loomis (world).
UK:

Elif Shafak's THE BASTARD OF ISTANBUL, the tale of two families, an exiled Armenian family living in San Francisco and the Kazancis of Istanbul, to Kate Barker at Penguin UK, by Anna Jarota Chodakowska of AJA Agency; and to Nova Fronteira in Brazil; Livanis in Greece; and Polirom in Romania, by Michael Radulescu at Marly Rusoff & Associates.

BIOGRAPHY:

Historian and author of the THE GREAT DELUGE Douglas Brinkley's untitled biography of Walter Cronkite, examining the revered media icon and some of the biggest issues of the 20th century, to Claire Wachtel at Harper, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (world).Washington Bureau Chief for the San Francisco Chronicle Marc Sandalow's MADAME SPEAKER, examining the life, career and new role of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the first woman Speaker of the House, to Leigh Haber at Rodale, at auction, for publication in early 2008, by Amy Rennert of the Amy Rennert Agency (NA)

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Slate editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg's examination of the Bush presidency and its political, personal and ideological roots, to Susan Mercandetti at Random House, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2008, by Andrew Wylie of The Wylie Agency (NA).Former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Alex Rossmiller's STILL BROKEN, drawn from experiences in the Pentagon and Iraq, an inside look at the wasteful, lethargic, and politicized state of front-line American intelligence five years after 9/11 from a young man recruited to revitalize an aging organization, to Ron Doering at Presidio, by Eric Lupfer at William Morris

Agency.ctisne@randomhouse.comCambridge medieval historian John Hatcher's untitled book on the Black Death, recreating the lives of ordinary people from a small Suffolk village during the tumultuous years of 1345-51 as they experienced the horrors of the plague, and tried to understand and cope with its devastation, to Robert Pigeon at Da Capo, for publication in spring 2008, by Andrew Lownie (world).

Blogger and journalist Sarah Posner's FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM: The GOP's Unholy Alliance with America's Most Corrupt Televangelists, exposing the emerging alliance between a new generation of corrupt and influential mega-church evangelists and the GOP, which is courting the movement's "values" voters, to Peter Richardson at PoliPoint Press, for publication in spring 2008, by Liz Trupin-Pulli at JET Literary Associates (world).etp@jetliterary.com

NARRATIVE:

Journalist Lisa Sweetingham's CHEMICAL COWBOYS, the story of a series of undercover DEA operations that led to the capture of the world's most notorious ecstasy kingpin and his lieutenants, while delving into secret agency investigations that began in US nightclubs quickly spread across continents with the help of government agencies in six countries, to Will Murphy for Ballantine, by David Halpern at The Robbins Office (NA).

TRUE CRIME:

"Jack Falcone's" INSIDE MAN, the first person account of an FBI agent's two and a half years as undercover Mafioso in the Gambino crime family, resulting in the arrest and conviction of more than 30 top-ranking Mafiosi and the crippling of the Gambino organization, to Ben Sevier in his first acquisition at Touchstone Fireside, in a good deal, by Paul Fedorko at Trident Media Group (world).

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