Some unusual & original subjects in these books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Erik Raschke's THE BOOK OF SAMUEL, in which a 12-year-old boy attempts to find personal salvation after his father abandons the family to save the world in the name of Jesus, as he is tested by his racist grandmother, his mother's depression, his best friend's devotion to bomb-making, the addition of his juvenile delinquent cousin to the family, and high-speed road trips with his psychiatrist, to Regina Scarpa at St. Martin's, by Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger (NA).sara@harveyklinger.com

GENERAL/OTHER:

Kathleen Kent's debut novel THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER, about one family's courage and defiance during the Salem Witch Trials, based on the author's own family history and the story of her grandmother nine generations back who was hung for being a witch, to Reagan Arthur at Little, Brown, at auction, for publication in spring 2009, by Julie Barer at Barer Literary (NA).UK rights to Imogen Taylor at Macmillan, in a good deal, at auction (UK/Commonwealth, excl. Canada), by Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein.

Gary Greenberg's MANUFACTURING DEPRESSION, a philosophical, witty look at the invention of depression, to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, with Dedi Felman editing, in a pre-empt, by Jim Rutman at Sterling Lord Literistic (NA).UK: jgill@pfd.co.uk.Foreign: marcy@sll.com

FILM:

Film rights to James Sallis's six Lew Griffin novels (LONG-LEGGED FLY, MOTH, BLACK HORNET, EYE OF THE CRICKET, BLUEBOTTLE, GHOST OF A FLEA) featuring an African American private eye in New Orleans, to producer J.P. Williams, in a six-figure buyout of the entire franchise, for a series of modestly budgeted features, by Steven Fisher at APA, on behalf of Vicky Bijur of the Vicky Bijur Literary Agency.

BIOGRAPHY:

Lily Tuck's WOMAN OF ROME: A Life of Elsa Morante, a portrait of a literary icon in Europe, whose artistic circle in Rome included writers such as her husband, Alberto Moravia, and Carlo Levi, and cinema giants Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, and Bernardo Bertolucci, to Terry Karten at Harper, in a nice deal, by Georges Borchardt (World).

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Blogger and greeting card designer Karen Burns's WORKING GIRL: 59 Ways to Love Your Job, a young woman's guide to jobs -- how to find them, keep them, and adore them -- by a writer who has held 59 jobs herself, to Jennifer Kasius at Running Press, by Betsy Amster at Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises (World).

HEALTH:

Author Simon Singh and professor of complementary medicine Dr. Edzard Ernst's MIRACLE CURES OR QUACK REMEDIES?, an examination of the alternative and complementary medicine businesses worldwide, to Angela von der Lippe at Norton, for publication in June 2008, by Patrick Walsh at Conville & Walsh (NA).Recent rights sales to Carl Hanser in Germany; Books in the Attic in Israel; Leopard in Sweden; Schinchosa in Japan; Abeiderspers in Holland; and Rizzoli in Italy.avonderlippe@WWNORTON.comTranslation: patrick@convilleandwalsh.com

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Mike Dash's THE FIRST FAMILY, the untold story of how the mafia immigrated to America from the 1870s onwards, and of the first dynasty of American organized crime - the Italian family who wrote the rules and who then paid in their own blood for doing so, to Tim Bartlett at Random House and Maya Mavjee at Doubleday Canada, at auction, for two books, by Patrick Walsh at Conville & Walsh (NA).tbartlett@randomhouse.compatrick@convilleandwalsh.com

HUMOR:

Borat Sagdiyev's BORAT: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of U.S. and A./BORAT: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, two books in one -- half a guide to America for Kazakhs and the other half a guide to Kazakhstan for Westerners, including illustrations and color photographs, to Suzanne Herz and Peter Gethers at Flying Dolphin, with Gethers editing, for publication in November 2007, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group (NA).UK rights to Jon Butler at Boxtree, by Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown UK.

LIFESTYLE:

NYT bestselling author of IT'S ALL TOO MUCH Peter Walsh's next two books on how to take control of clutter and live the life you dream, to Suzanne Donahue at the Free Press, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (World).
MEMOIR:

The only Iraq War veteran to be elected to the Congress Patrick Murphy's TAKING THE HILL, a memoir about family, country, and service, from his blue-collar Philadelphia childhood to his times as the youngest professor at West Point, a Captain in the 82nd Airborne on the front lines in Iraq, and now in Congress, to John Sterling at Holt, for publication in early 2008, with David Patterson editing, by Esther Newberg at ICM (NA).
SCIENCE:

Harvard astronomer Dimitar Sasselov's SUPER-EARTH: A New Hypothesis on the Origins of Life, on the search for Earth-like planets in the universe and what they mean for the evolution of life, to T.J. Kelleher at Smithsonian Books, in a very nice deal, by Max Brockman at Brockman (US).

SPORTS:

ESPN: The Magazine contributor and FOUR DAYS TO GLORY author Mark Kreidler's FACTORY TOWN, a year-long look at the curious ability of one small town to consistently produce Little League champions and what it says about youth sports in America, to David Hirshey at Harper, in a pre-empt, by Bob Mecoy of Creative Book Services (NA).

UK:

80-year-old Clara Kramer's CLARA'S WAR, about her experience as a girl hiding from the Nazis in a makeshift bunker in a small Polish town, though under the protection of a womanizer, drunkard and professed anti-Semite, citing everything she learned about life and love, courage and family back to that time and her unusual protectors, to Charlotte Cole at Ebury, and to Jeanne Ryckmans at Random House Australia, in a pre-empt, by Susanna Lea Associates.

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