A Selection of Varied Books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Ruiyan Xu's THE LOST AND FORGOTTEN LANGUAGES OF SHANGHAI, in which ayoung successful bilingual Chinese businessman finds himself unable tospeak Chinese after a bizarre accident and can only speak English, whichleaves him unable to communicate with his family and everyone aroundhim; an attractive American woman neurologist is brought to Shanghai totreat him, and this changes all of their lives in ways beyond allrecognition, to Hope Dellon at St. Martin's, by Elaine Koster at theElaine Koster Agency (NA).UK rights to Helen Garnons-Williams at Bloomsbury UK, by David Grossman at the David Grossman Agency on behalf of Elaine Koster at the Elaine Koster Agency. Italian rights to MariaGiulia Castagnone at Piemme, by Chandler Crawford of the Chandler Crawford Agency.

Former DJ and journalist Philip Wilding's CROSS COUNTRY MURDER SONG, inwhich a journey across America by a psychotic driver wreaks havoc,mayhem and devastation among a cast of original and frighteningcharacters, to Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape and Beth Coates at Vintage,for publication in Spring 2010, by Mal Peachey at Essential Works.

GENERAL/OTHER:

Author of Winter's Tale and Soldier of the Great War, Mark Helprin'sDIGITAL BARBARISM: A Writer's Manifesto, defending, among other things,copyright and our industry, to Adam Bellow at Collins, by Wendy Weil atthe Wendy Weil Agency.

Pseudonymous author of Amberville, Tim Davys' next three books in hisMollisan Town Quartet, LANCEHEIM, TOURQUAI and YOK, translated fromSwedish and once again involving stuffed animals behaving badly, toJeanette Perez at Harper, for publication in March2010, by Susanna Einstein at LJK Literary Management (world).

Author of The Wisdom of Crocodiles and screenwriter Paul Hoffman's epictrilogy beginning with THE LEFT HAND OF GOD, featuring a 14-year-oldprodigy raised by a secretive sect of warrior monks who will play apivotal role in a conflict he barely understands, a clash ofcivilizations that has been looming for thousands of years, as nothingless than the fate of mankind rests on the shoulders, to Alex Clarke atMichael Joseph, in a pre-empt, for publication in summer 2009, byAnthony Goff at David Higham Associates (world).US rights to Brian Tart at Dutton, with Ben Sevier editing, by SarahHunt Cooke for Michael Joseph.Rights to Goldmann in Germany; and Longanesi in Italy; both for sixfigures, and Objectiva in

Brazil.chantal.noel@uk.penguingroup.comsarah.hunt-cooke@uk.penguingroup.comDesigner, artist, and actress Gloria Vanderbilt's OBSESSION: An EroticTale, to Dan Halpern at Ecco, for publication in July of 2009, by JeanneWilmot (World).

Author of Souvenir and the forthcoming Reunion Therese Fowler'sBREAKAWAY, about a woman caught in a custody battle over her son that iscomplicated by her troubling dreams -- some say visions -- that her sonis in danger, and her ex-husband may be the source, to Linda Marrow atBallantine, in a two-book deal, by Wendy Sherman at Wendy ShermanAssociates (NA).

Author of POMEGRANATE SOUP Marsha Mehran's THE MARGARET THATCHER SCHOOL OF BEAUTY, set in pre-revolutionary Iran and present-day Los Angeles,and narrated in the tradition of the Thousand and One Nights, followingthe lives of a group of immigrants -- four Iranian women and theirAmerican-raised daughters who for years gathered weekly on the carpetedrooftop of Scheherazade's Beauty Palace to drink tea and tell stories,and who are now reunited for a three days leading up to a family wedding-- revealing betrayals, heartache, self-discovery and ultimately, thepower of female intuition, to Peternelle van Arsdale at Putnam, byElizabeth Sheinkman at Curtis Brown UK (world English).Rights: Betsy@curtisbrown.co.uk

CHILDREN'S/FANTASY:

Caitlin Kittredge's YA fantasy trilogy THE IRON CODEX, beginning withTHE WITCH'S ALPHABET, a series set in a Lovecraftian industrial city inan alternate 1950s that centers on a mechanically gifted young girlapproaching her 16th birthday, the age at which everyone in her familygoes insane, leaving it up to her to unravel the mystery of theirmadness -- and save the world, to Krista Marino at Delacorte, in a pre-empt, by Rachel Vater at Folio Literary Management (NA).German rights to Bertelsmann Jugendbuch Verlag, in a good deal, in apre-empt, by Celeste Fine at Folio Literary Management in associationwith Peter and Paul Fritz.

UK:

Anne Fortier's JULIET, to Lynne Drew at Harper UK and to Fiona Hendersonat Harper Australia, at auction, by Angharad Kowal at Writers House (UK,excl. Canada; and ANZ).

Rights to Laguna in Serbia, at auction, by Vuk Perisic of Plima LiteraryAgency; to Sijthoff in Holland, in a pre-empt, by Caroline van Gelderen;to Sextante in Brazil, in a pre-empt, by Karin Schindler; to Psichogiosin Greece, by John Moukakos; and to Editura Polirom in Romania by SimonaKessler; all on behalf of Maja Nikolic and Daniel Lazar at WritersHouse.

BIOGRAPHY:

Author and longtime NYT sportswriter George Vecsey's biography ofbaseball legend Stan Musial, to Paul Taunton at Ballantine and ESPNBooks, by Esther Newberg at ICM (NA).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

John Ghazvinian's CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION: Iran and America from theMayflower to the Mullahs, a narrative history of the powerfulrelationship between Iran and America since the 17th century, toVictoria Wilson at Knopf, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (NA).

MEMOIR:

Mike Brown's HOW I KILLED PLUTO AND WHY IT HAD IT COMING, a personal account of the most tumultuous year in modern astronomy and the astronomer who inadvertently caused it when, in an attempt to discoverthe tenth planet, he ended up demoting everyone's favorite planet, Pluto, to Cindy Spiegel at Spiegel & Grau, for publication in Spring 2010, by Marc Gerald and Caroline Greeven at The Agency Group.

NARRATIVE:

Andrew Beahrs's TWAIN'S FEAST: The American at the Table, the story of one man's search for America's lost foods, with Mark Twain as his guide, to Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, at auction, for publication inspring 2010, the 100th anniversary of Twain's death, by Emma Sweeney atEmma Sweeney Agency (NA).

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