Obama to Rushdie...New books coming...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Sujatha Hampton's EVERMORE, the saga of a sprawling Indian-American family and the dizzying journey that unfolds when men and women, Hindus and Catholics, histories and curses, collide, to Karyn Marcus at Thomas Dunne Books, for publication in Winter 2010, by Sally Wofford-Girand at Brickhouse Literary (World English).

Simon Lelic's RUPTURE, to Kathryn Court at Viking, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Caroline Wood at the Felicity Bryan Agency (NA).

INSPIRATIONAL:

Tammy Kling and John Spencer Ellis's THE COMPASS, an inspirational novel, with a companion film on the way next year, about a disconsolate man's journey into the wild, a metaphor for the journey of life in which specific people and circumstances lead you towards your destiny, to Roger Cooper of Vanguard Press, for publication in May 2009, by Peter Miller and Adrienne Rosado at PMA Literary & Film Management (NA).Rights to Mondadori in Italy; Ediouro in Brazil, Modan in Israel, Lua de Papel in Portugal; and Paradigma in Holland.

GENERAL/OTHER:

Nobel winner Gustave Le Clezio's 1965 book THE INTERROGATION, originally published in the US by Atheneum, to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, for publication later in 2008, by Anne-Solange Noble at Gallimard.

Maria Angels Anglada's A VIOLIN IN AUSCHWITZ, a touching story that, like the recent international best-seller book, "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas", by John Boyne, talks about dignity and one person's resistance in the face of the most terrible adversity, to Nita Taublib at Bantam Dell, in a nice deal, for publication in 2009, by Joachim De Nys at Pontas Literary & Film Agency (World English).

NYT bestselling fiction author Neil Gaiman's nonfiction book MONKEY AND ME: CHINA AND THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST, inspired by the classical 16th century Chinese text Journey to the West, again to Jennifer Brehl at William Morrow, plus two more nonfiction books that "will focus on subjects that have been explored over the years on Gaiman's popular blog, by Merrilee Heifetz of Writers House (world English; Chinese).

FILM:

Salman Rushdie's MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN, to Deepa Mehta (Water), who will direct and co-adapt with the author, set to start production in 2010.

NON-FICTION:
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS:

Author of How Starbucks Saved My Life Michael Gates Gill's HOW YOU CAN SAVE YOUR OWN LIFE, simple life lessons for how to live a life you love at any time, based on the author's own experiences of finding true happiness after his fall from a world of privilege, to Bill Shinker at Gotham, with Jessica Sindler editing, by Gillian MacKenzie at the Gillian MacKenzie Agency (world).

BIOGRAPHY:

Professor at Wilkes University, J. Michael Lennon's authorized biography of Norman Mailer, by this longtime friend of the late author, personally chosen by him as official biographer (he co-authored On God: An Uncommon Conversation with Mailer and is president of The Norman Mailer Society), working with the cooperation of the Mailer estate, and based in part on extensive interviews with Mailer over the past several years, as well as access to Mailer's unpublished archives and correspondence at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, with Bob Bender editing, by John Taylor "Ike" Williams at Kneerim & Williams (world).

Senior research fellow at London's Science Museum Graham Farmelo's THE STRANGEST MAN, a biography of Paul Dirac, revealing the previously unknown story of the pathologically reticent genius who became the youngest theoretician to ever win the Nobel Prize in Physics, to Lara Heimert at Basic, by Jason Cooper at Faber (NA).

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

MONEYBALL and THE BLIND SIDE author Michael Lewis's untitled behind-the-scenes story of a few men and women who foresaw the current economic disaster, tried to prevent it, but were overruled by the financial institutions with whom they worked, to Star Lawrence at Norton, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House (NA).

HISTORY/POLITICS/WORLD AFFAIRS:

Middle East expert and author of THE NEW IRAQ Joseph Braude's account of his unprecedented embed-style access to a unit of the Casablanca federal police where he encounters a local murder that illuminates the inner world of a front-line Arab society, its enemies, and its enforcers, as well as a post 9/11 tale of the meaning of global security in the 21st century, to Chris Jackson at Spiegel & Grau, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world).

Newsweek reporter Richard Wolffe's RENEGADE: The Education of Barack Obama, based on his reporting on Obama since hitting the campaign trail with him from February 2007 on plus interview with Obama and his aides and friends, to Sean Desmond at Crown, by Kris Dahl at ICM.

MEMOIR:

Olympic Gold Medalist in wrestling Henry Cejudo's THE AMERICANO DREAM, an inspirational memoir about the son of Mexican illegal immigrants and the determination and drive against all odds that took Cejudo to the Beijing Olympics, to Raymond Garcia and Laura Perciasepe at Celebra, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (World).

French-Colombian politician, former senator and political activist, kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the Colombian presidency and held captive for six years, Ingrid Betancourt's memoir, to Ann Goddoff at Penguin Press, by Susanna Lea at Susanna Lea Associates (US).

NARRATIVE:

Graham Bowley's THE CRUEL GODDESS: Life and Death on K 2, elaborating on his front page NYT story about the climbing disaster in August 2008 that killed 11 out of 30 climbers on their quest to conquer the most challenging mountain in the world, to Gillian Blake at Collins, for publication in Fall 2010, by Andrew Wylie at The Wylie Agency (NA).

Wrap...