From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Scholastic editor-in-chief and best selling YA author David Levithan's first adult novel, THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY, an alphabetically episodic narrative that traces the ups and downs of an urban romance, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor.
Dipika Rai's SOMEONE ELSE'S GARDEN, an epic tale of mothers and daughters and of love and rejection which explores the essence of abject cruelty and flawless goodness that defines the Indian soul, to Jeanette Perez at Harper, for publication in Spring 2011, by Diane Banks at Diane Banks Associates (NA).
UK rights to Clare Smith at Harper UK.
THRILLER:
Robotics engineer and How to Survive a Robot Uprising and Bro-Jitsu author Daniel Wilson's ROBOPOCALYPSE, about the fate of the human race following a robot uprising, to Jason Kaufman at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2011, by Laurie Fox at the Linda Chester Literary Agency (world).
Film rights announced simultaneously to Mark Sourian and Holly Bario at DreamWorks, for "accelerated development," by Justin Manask.
Author of The Death and Life of Bobby Z and The Power of the Dog, Don Winslow's SAVAGES, a gritty, humorous, and drug-fueled ransom thriller set amidst the Baja Cartel in Laguna Beach, CA, for publication in July 2010, and THE GENTLEMEN'S HOUR, for publication in July 2011, moving to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster from Knopf, with Sarah Hochman editing, by Richard Pine at Inkwell Management (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
John Pippin's THE BLIND ASTRONOMER'S NOTEBOOK, set in 1798, with a young woman's return to Ireland and her discovery of a notebook left by her late father (a blind astronomer who spent his life futilely searching for a new planet), who becomes determined to complete her father's work, caught in a race against astronomers throughout Europe looking for the same planet while contending with a violent rebellion at home that threatens to destroy her father's observatory, to Nan Talese at Nan A. Talese, in a very nice deal, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
Annabel Lyon's THE GOLDEN MEAN, about the philosopher Aristotle's relationship with his student, the teenage Alexander the Great, to Diana Coglianese and Sonny Mehta at Knopf, at auction, by Denise Bukowski at The Bukowski Agency (US).
Foreign rights to Roca Editorial, at auction, by Sandra Bruna; to Editions la Table Ronde in France, by Anna Jarota; and to Leya Brasil in Brazil, by Joao Paulo Riff.
CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:
Crystal Allen's HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY, in which a 13-year-old vows to spend the summer changing his image from dud to stud, to Kristin Daly at Harper, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2011 and 2012, by Jennifer Rofe at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency (world).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Author of RIBBLESTROP, Andy Mulligan's TRASH, a "nail-biter" about children who survive, against the odds, with a set of instincts and skills that just keep them breathing, pitched as a read for all ages, to David Fickling Books, at auction in the UK, and then in a pre-empt for the US, for simultaneous publication in fall 2010, by Jane Turnbull at The Turnbull Agency, and Ken Wright at Writers House acting on behalf of Turnbull (world English).
Spanish rights to Sigrid Kraus at Salamandra, in a pre-empt, by Sally Riley at Aitken Alexander.
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
NYT reporter Rachel Swarns' expansion of her recent front page story on First Lady Michelle Obama's sweeping family history, describing the first white ancestors in her family tree and tracing the earliest steps of her clan as they journeyed over five generations from slavery to the White House, to Dawn Davis at Amistad, in a pre-empt, by Flip Brophy at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
COOKING:
Executive chef Daniel Humm and general manager Will Guidara's ELEVEN MADISON PARK: The Cookbook, with 100 seasonally arranged recipes and behind-the-scenes vignettes highlighting the philosophy of continual reinvention at the dining spot recently described by Frank Bruni as "among the most alluring and impressive restaurants in New York" in a coveted four-star review, to Michael Sand at Little, Brown, in a good deal, by David Black at the David Black Literary Agency.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Andrew Feinstein's MERCHANTS OF DEATH: Inside the Global Arms Trade, the global arms industry accounts for 40% of all corruption in all world trade and is shrouded in secrecy; investigating how the international arms trade operates and what motivates those in the business and the governments who do business with them, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, by Sarah Hunt Cooke at Penguin UK (US).
sarah.huntcooke@uk.penguingroup.com
NYT bestselling author of WORSE THAN WATERGATE, CONSERVATIVES WITHOUT CONSCIENCE John Dean's next book, again to Rick Kot at Viking, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world).
Journalist Jay Bahadur's THE PIRATES OF PUNTLAND: An Inside Look at the World's Last Buccaneers, drawing on the author's travels into the heart of Somalia, to the autonomous but internationally unrecognized region of Puntland, to give the world a better understanding of the human beings and politics behind Somalia's notorious sea pirates, to Jim Gifford at Harper Canada, Vicky Wilson at Pantheon, Daniel Crewe at Profile, at auction, and Henry Rosenbloom at Scribe, for Australian and New Zealand rights, for publication in Fall 2010, by Rick Broadhead at Rick Broadhead & Associates.
MEMOIR:
Former NBC president of entertainment Warren Littlefield's memoir, documenting his tenure overseeing the Must-See TV years at NBC, moving a floundering network to prime-time dominance, written with author and screenwriter T.R. Pearson, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, by David Black of the David Black Literary Agency (NA).
SCIENCE:
Rebecca Costa's first book, THE WATCHMAN'S RATTLE: A New Way to Understand Complexity, Collapse and Correction, positing that escalating complexity has led to conditions -- worldwide recession, global warming, pandemic viruses -- that have outpaced our actual ability to manage them, comparing our current state to the "cognitive gridlock" that brought down the Mayans, Romans, the Ming Dynasty, Byzantine Empire, along with scientific evidence that the human brain can be retrained to comprehend, analyze, and resolve massively complex problems, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, for publication in fall 2010, by Arthur Klebanoff at the Scott Meredith Agency and David Nelson at Waterside Productions.
Wrap...
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
McGovern on Abe Lincoln...
From KPBS San Diego:
By Maureen Cavanaugh
These Days | Wednesday, November 4, 2009
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. You're listening to These Days on KPBS. Many books have been written about the life of Abraham Lincoln and many of them have been quite daunting in both length and scope. A new volume, part of the American Presidents Series, manages to present the life, challenges, controversies, victories and tragedies of Lincoln in a clear and compact format. Perhaps that's because the author, my guest Senator George McGovern, after a lifetime in politics, has a unique insight into some of the challenges and hard decisions Lincoln was called upon to make. George McGovern represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1963 to 1981. He is perhaps best known as the Democratic presidential nominee in 1972. Senator McGovern is also an historian, the author of more than a dozen books and, along with former Senator Bob Dole, the recipient of the 2008 World Food Prize for his work on an international school food program. And, as I mentioned, his latest book is titled “Abraham Lincoln.” It's a pleasure to welcome you, Senator McGovern, to These Days.
SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN (Author): It’s good to be on your program.
CAVANAUGH: Thank you. Now since you’re an historian, before you wrote this book, you must’ve thought you knew quite a lot about President Lincoln. I’m wondering, did you learn things researching this book that surprised you?
MCGOVERN: Yes, I wouldn’t say any dramatic things that brought me right out of my chair but I did learn the depth of his character better than I had understood it before. He was a great man. He was not only a great president—some historians say our greatest president—but he was a very great human being, overcame incredible handicaps in order to win the White House and then preside, I think, brilliantly as President of the United States.
CAVANAUGH: Now the story, the great story, of Lincoln, his birth in the log cabin, his struggles with his own personal melancholy, his compassion during the war, this has inspired so many Americans, including our current president. And what is it that you think about the way President Lincoln handled adversity that we find so compelling?
MCGOVERN: Well, who would’ve thought that a man with only two years of formal education, even that was hit or miss at times, sometimes dependent on traveling teachers that would visit the village, who would’ve guessed that he could emerge with enough wisdom to become a great President of the United States. But in that less than two years of education that he had, he learned to read and he learned to write, and he never quit. For the rest of his life, he was reading, reading, reading, reading. Every time he could get his hands on a book, he devoured it. His father couldn’t accept that. His father was a hardworking farmer, and that’s a tough job. I know that, having grown up in South Dakota. But when he would assign a task to young Abe Lincoln, frequently an hour later he’d find him leaning up against a tree reading a book, and it drove him wild. The differences between the two men became so intense that Lincoln left home and didn’t even attend his father’s funeral.
.http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/nov/04/senator-george-mcgovern-talks-about-politics-past-/
[Use link above to continue reading}
Wrap...
By Maureen Cavanaugh
These Days | Wednesday, November 4, 2009
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. You're listening to These Days on KPBS. Many books have been written about the life of Abraham Lincoln and many of them have been quite daunting in both length and scope. A new volume, part of the American Presidents Series, manages to present the life, challenges, controversies, victories and tragedies of Lincoln in a clear and compact format. Perhaps that's because the author, my guest Senator George McGovern, after a lifetime in politics, has a unique insight into some of the challenges and hard decisions Lincoln was called upon to make. George McGovern represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1963 to 1981. He is perhaps best known as the Democratic presidential nominee in 1972. Senator McGovern is also an historian, the author of more than a dozen books and, along with former Senator Bob Dole, the recipient of the 2008 World Food Prize for his work on an international school food program. And, as I mentioned, his latest book is titled “Abraham Lincoln.” It's a pleasure to welcome you, Senator McGovern, to These Days.
SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN (Author): It’s good to be on your program.
CAVANAUGH: Thank you. Now since you’re an historian, before you wrote this book, you must’ve thought you knew quite a lot about President Lincoln. I’m wondering, did you learn things researching this book that surprised you?
MCGOVERN: Yes, I wouldn’t say any dramatic things that brought me right out of my chair but I did learn the depth of his character better than I had understood it before. He was a great man. He was not only a great president—some historians say our greatest president—but he was a very great human being, overcame incredible handicaps in order to win the White House and then preside, I think, brilliantly as President of the United States.
CAVANAUGH: Now the story, the great story, of Lincoln, his birth in the log cabin, his struggles with his own personal melancholy, his compassion during the war, this has inspired so many Americans, including our current president. And what is it that you think about the way President Lincoln handled adversity that we find so compelling?
MCGOVERN: Well, who would’ve thought that a man with only two years of formal education, even that was hit or miss at times, sometimes dependent on traveling teachers that would visit the village, who would’ve guessed that he could emerge with enough wisdom to become a great President of the United States. But in that less than two years of education that he had, he learned to read and he learned to write, and he never quit. For the rest of his life, he was reading, reading, reading, reading. Every time he could get his hands on a book, he devoured it. His father couldn’t accept that. His father was a hardworking farmer, and that’s a tough job. I know that, having grown up in South Dakota. But when he would assign a task to young Abe Lincoln, frequently an hour later he’d find him leaning up against a tree reading a book, and it drove him wild. The differences between the two men became so intense that Lincoln left home and didn’t even attend his father’s funeral.
.http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/nov/04/senator-george-mcgovern-talks-about-politics-past-/
[Use link above to continue reading}
Wrap...
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Terrific Read on North Korea....
)
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/29/officials-us-and-north-korea-hold-dialogue-ucsd/
Wrap...
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/29/officials-us-and-north-korea-hold-dialogue-ucsd/
Wrap...
Friday, October 30, 2009
Keeping An Eye On Intelligence .....
From Secrecy News...
OBAMA BOOSTS WHITE HOUSE INTEL ADVISORY BOARD
In a move that will strengthen internal executive branch oversight of intelligence, President Obama this week said that a White House intelligence oversight board will be required to alert the Attorney General whenever it learns of "intelligence activities that involve possible violations of Federal criminal laws." A similar requirement for the board to notify the Attorney General had been canceled by President Bush in February 2008. President Obama reversed that step in his executive order 13516 on the authorities of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) and the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB).
The new Obama order also restores to the PIAB and the IOB some of the other teeth that the Bush Administration had removed. The order states that the Director of National Intelligence and others "shall provide such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB determine is needed to perform their functions." The Bush order had only spoken of "such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB may need to perform functions under this order." So the new order (like the prior Clinton order) helpfully specifies that the PIAB and the IOB are the ones who will "determine" what they need--not the DNI or anyone else.
The Obama order does not restore the Clinton-era requirement that all intelligence agencies heads report quarterly to the IOB. Instead, as in the Bush order, the DNI is to report to the Board at least twice a year.
The Obama order states that the PIAB membership should be comprised of individuals "who are not full-time employees of the Federal Government." Previously, they had to be "not employed by the Federal Government" at all. The basis for this change is unclear.
Strengthening internal oversight of intelligence activities is among the easiest of changes to Bush Administration intelligence policy that the Obama Administration could be expected to make. The action does not entail any increase in public disclosure or congressional reporting concerning intelligence activities, not does it infringe on executive authority in any way.
On October 28, President Obama announced the appointment of former Senators Chuck Hagel and David Boren to the PIAB, which had been vacant until then.
"We are off to a good start with this meeting by welcoming the press, which past advisory boards have rarely done," the President said. "That's a reflection of my administration's commitment to transparency and open government, even, when appropriate, on matters of national security and intelligence." But judging from a published transcript, no matters of substance were discussed and no questions from the press were taken at the meeting.
Wrap...
OBAMA BOOSTS WHITE HOUSE INTEL ADVISORY BOARD
In a move that will strengthen internal executive branch oversight of intelligence, President Obama this week said that a White House intelligence oversight board will be required to alert the Attorney General whenever it learns of "intelligence activities that involve possible violations of Federal criminal laws." A similar requirement for the board to notify the Attorney General had been canceled by President Bush in February 2008. President Obama reversed that step in his executive order 13516 on the authorities of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) and the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB).
The new Obama order also restores to the PIAB and the IOB some of the other teeth that the Bush Administration had removed. The order states that the Director of National Intelligence and others "shall provide such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB determine is needed to perform their functions." The Bush order had only spoken of "such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB may need to perform functions under this order." So the new order (like the prior Clinton order) helpfully specifies that the PIAB and the IOB are the ones who will "determine" what they need--not the DNI or anyone else.
The Obama order does not restore the Clinton-era requirement that all intelligence agencies heads report quarterly to the IOB. Instead, as in the Bush order, the DNI is to report to the Board at least twice a year.
The Obama order states that the PIAB membership should be comprised of individuals "who are not full-time employees of the Federal Government." Previously, they had to be "not employed by the Federal Government" at all. The basis for this change is unclear.
Strengthening internal oversight of intelligence activities is among the easiest of changes to Bush Administration intelligence policy that the Obama Administration could be expected to make. The action does not entail any increase in public disclosure or congressional reporting concerning intelligence activities, not does it infringe on executive authority in any way.
On October 28, President Obama announced the appointment of former Senators Chuck Hagel and David Boren to the PIAB, which had been vacant until then.
"We are off to a good start with this meeting by welcoming the press, which past advisory boards have rarely done," the President said. "That's a reflection of my administration's commitment to transparency and open government, even, when appropriate, on matters of national security and intelligence." But judging from a published transcript, no matters of substance were discussed and no questions from the press were taken at the meeting.
Wrap...
Friday, October 16, 2009
The President PROPOSES....
...but the Congress disposes:
From Military.com :
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath
President Barack Obama is getting a raft of grief for his failure to deliver on a number of his campaign promises, including his pledge to end the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. But what all these critics always miss is that the president can't change the law that forces gays in uniform to cover-up their sexuality. Only Congress can....More
Wrap...
From Military.com :
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath
President Barack Obama is getting a raft of grief for his failure to deliver on a number of his campaign promises, including his pledge to end the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. But what all these critics always miss is that the president can't change the law that forces gays in uniform to cover-up their sexuality. Only Congress can....More
Wrap...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Secrets Plus....
From Secrecy News:
COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS, AND OTHER STUFF
Counterinsurgency refers to "comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its core grievances," a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains. See Joint Publication 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency Operations" (pdf), 249 pages, October 5, 2009. (JP 3-24 is not to be confused with the celebrated December 2006 Army Field Manual 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency" [pdf].)
Former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan wrote a book last year in which he faulted the Bush Administration for a lack of candor in connection with the war in Iraq, mishandling of classified information in the Scooter Libby case, and other defects. A contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter was held on June 20, 2008, the record of which has just been published (pdf), with an August 2009 response from Mr. McClellan.
The Czech Republic's Security Information Service (BIS) has published its 2008 annual report (pdf).
Trinidad and Tobago signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last week becoming the 182nd nation to have signed the treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear explosive tests.
Wrap...
COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS, AND OTHER STUFF
Counterinsurgency refers to "comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its core grievances," a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains. See Joint Publication 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency Operations" (pdf), 249 pages, October 5, 2009. (JP 3-24 is not to be confused with the celebrated December 2006 Army Field Manual 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency" [pdf].)
Former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan wrote a book last year in which he faulted the Bush Administration for a lack of candor in connection with the war in Iraq, mishandling of classified information in the Scooter Libby case, and other defects. A contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter was held on June 20, 2008, the record of which has just been published (pdf), with an August 2009 response from Mr. McClellan.
The Czech Republic's Security Information Service (BIS) has published its 2008 annual report (pdf).
Trinidad and Tobago signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last week becoming the 182nd nation to have signed the treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear explosive tests.
Wrap...
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Big Batch of Books & Some films.....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Urban Waite's THE TERROR OF LIVING, involving a drug deal gone wrong and an unstoppable hired killer, pitched as a young Cormac McCarthy, and DEAD IF I DON'T, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Nat Sobel at Sobel Weber Associates (US).
Helen Grant's THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN, a tale of abduction, murder, gossip and childhood imagination, and THE GLASS DEMON, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, for publication in August 2010, by Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson (US).
David Rocklin's THE LUMINIST, set in colonial Ceylon amidst brewing political unrest and loosely based on the famed Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, in which a young Ceylonese man and the British wife of a colonial governor bond over their mutual fascination with the burgeoning art of photography, a sweeping historical tale about colonialism, art, war and family; pitched as in the spirit of Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner, to Kate Sage at Hawthorne Books, by Melissa Chinchillo and Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Italian and Hebrew rights previously to Neri Pozza and Kinneret.
UK and translation: melissa@fletcherandco.com
Film: swanna@fletcherandco.com
THRILLER:
Erin Brockovich's novel about a woman who uncovers corporate and environmental crimes, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cara Hoffman's SO MUCH PRETTY, in which a young woman's disappearance from a rural New York town exposes the community's failure to acknowledge a murderer in their midst, ensnaring another local girl in a sickening web as a reporter looking for her "big-picture" story scrambles to reveal the truth before it's too late, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, for publication in 2011, by Rebecca Friedman at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
Author of CITY OF LIGHT, Lauren Belfer's A FIERCE RADIANCE, both a love story and thriller set against the secret race to develop the arsenal of "weapons of life" -- now known as antibiotics -- that illuminates the struggle of one family to cohere amid the passions, betrayals, and triumphs of World War II, from the streets of Manhattan to the battlefields of North Africa, to Claire Wachtel and Jonathan Burnham at Harper, for publication in June 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA and translation).
Adam Foulds's THE QUICKENING MAZE, a Man-Booker shortlisted historical novel about genius and madness, revolving around nature poet John Clare and the young Alfred Tennyson who happened to stay at the same lunatic asylum in the mid-nineteenth century, and Foulds's Costa Prize winning prose poem, THE BROKEN WORD, about the Mau Mau uprising, to Josh Kendall at Viking, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Anna Webber at United Agents (for the novel) and Jane Kirby at Cape/RH UK (for the poem).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
BIRTH author Tina Cassidy's JACKIE AFTER O, writing how in one year, an American icon lost her husband, saved a landmark, and found herself, to Carrie Kania and Claire Wachtel for It Books, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Associate professor of history and public policy at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University Jeffrey Engel's WHEN THE WORLD SEEMED NEW: American Foreign Policy in the Age of George H. W. Bush, examining the foreign policy of George H.W. Bush's presidency, during one of history's great turning points: the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the Persian Gulf War; based on interviews with the principals, and access to new documents including the heretofore classified Brent Scowcroft Papers, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, by Andrew Wylie (NA).
British historian and author of ENGLAND'S MISTRESS and BECOMING QUEEN, Kate Williams's MISTRESS OF EMPIRES: Napoleon's Josephine, a biography of Josephine Bonaparte, throwing new light on her childhood in Martinique, her imprisonment following the French Revolution and her years as a kept mistress and courtesan before her marriage to and long love affair with Napoleon, to Susanna Porter at Ballantine, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Simon Trewin, and to Paul Sidey at Hutchinson, by Simon Trewin at United Agents.
Film: glewis@unitedagents.co.uk
MEMOIR:
Billy Joel's memoir, written with Fred Schruers, to David Hirshey at Harper, sold a while ago but just becoming public, by Amanda Urban at ICM.
PhD in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, Margaux Fragoso's TIGER, TIGER, about the author's disturbing relationship with a much older man that began at a city pool in New Jersey when she was seven and lasted until his suicide when she was twenty-two, showing vividly how a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him in what the publisher calls, in its own troubling way, the saddest love story you will ever hear, to Courtney Hodell at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, for publication in winter 2011, by Terra Chalberg at the Susan Golomb Agency (world).
"Saturday Night Live" veteran Jim Breuer's memoir, about his unique career choices, family, fame and life in general, to Patrick Mulligan of Gotham, in a pre-empt, to Peter McGuigan of Foundry Literary + Media.
Glen Finland's NEXT STOP, about the summer the author and her 21-year-old autistic son spent riding the Washington, DC metro system together with the hope of him being able to go solo and be the first step towards his independence, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
Dr. Randy Christensen's ASK ME WHY I HURT, an inspiring memoir about his ten years of heroic medical outreach to homeless adolescents in Phoenix, AZ, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway with Lorraine Glennon editing, at auction, by Richard Pine and Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (world).
NARRATIVE:
Bestselling author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US Alan Weisman's COUNTDOWN, a provocative investigation into the future of humanity on the planet, following John Parsley to Little, Brown, by Nicholas Ellison at Nicholas Ellison (world English).
Andrew Blum's TUBES: A Physical Journey to our Virtual World, a narrative tour of the back-of-house of our digital lives, bringing readers to a vast hidden corner of our everyday world, the physical infrastructure of the Internet, and describing the story of its development, how it works, and the fascinating characters who run it, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
Richard Schickel's CLINT EASTWOOD: A Retrospective, aiming for a definitive look at the film icon, featuring rare images from the Warner Bros. archive, to Michael Fragnito at Sterling, for publication in April 2010, by Colin Webb at Palazzo Editions (world English).
French rights to Flammarion; German to Edel; Finnish to Otava.
SCIENCE:
Leading researcher Diana Reiss's MINDING DOLPHINS: A Scientist's Journey Inside the Minds of Dolphins and Whales, and My Mission to Save Them, a tour of dolphin and whale intelligence, combining stories of Humphrey the humpback whale and her many dolphin companions, with Reiss's activism to save dolphins and whales from wholesale slaughter, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Urban Waite's THE TERROR OF LIVING, involving a drug deal gone wrong and an unstoppable hired killer, pitched as a young Cormac McCarthy, and DEAD IF I DON'T, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Nat Sobel at Sobel Weber Associates (US).
Helen Grant's THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN, a tale of abduction, murder, gossip and childhood imagination, and THE GLASS DEMON, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, for publication in August 2010, by Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson (US).
David Rocklin's THE LUMINIST, set in colonial Ceylon amidst brewing political unrest and loosely based on the famed Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, in which a young Ceylonese man and the British wife of a colonial governor bond over their mutual fascination with the burgeoning art of photography, a sweeping historical tale about colonialism, art, war and family; pitched as in the spirit of Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner, to Kate Sage at Hawthorne Books, by Melissa Chinchillo and Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Italian and Hebrew rights previously to Neri Pozza and Kinneret.
UK and translation: melissa@fletcherandco.com
Film: swanna@fletcherandco.com
THRILLER:
Erin Brockovich's novel about a woman who uncovers corporate and environmental crimes, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cara Hoffman's SO MUCH PRETTY, in which a young woman's disappearance from a rural New York town exposes the community's failure to acknowledge a murderer in their midst, ensnaring another local girl in a sickening web as a reporter looking for her "big-picture" story scrambles to reveal the truth before it's too late, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, for publication in 2011, by Rebecca Friedman at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
Author of CITY OF LIGHT, Lauren Belfer's A FIERCE RADIANCE, both a love story and thriller set against the secret race to develop the arsenal of "weapons of life" -- now known as antibiotics -- that illuminates the struggle of one family to cohere amid the passions, betrayals, and triumphs of World War II, from the streets of Manhattan to the battlefields of North Africa, to Claire Wachtel and Jonathan Burnham at Harper, for publication in June 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA and translation).
Adam Foulds's THE QUICKENING MAZE, a Man-Booker shortlisted historical novel about genius and madness, revolving around nature poet John Clare and the young Alfred Tennyson who happened to stay at the same lunatic asylum in the mid-nineteenth century, and Foulds's Costa Prize winning prose poem, THE BROKEN WORD, about the Mau Mau uprising, to Josh Kendall at Viking, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Anna Webber at United Agents (for the novel) and Jane Kirby at Cape/RH UK (for the poem).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
BIRTH author Tina Cassidy's JACKIE AFTER O, writing how in one year, an American icon lost her husband, saved a landmark, and found herself, to Carrie Kania and Claire Wachtel for It Books, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Associate professor of history and public policy at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University Jeffrey Engel's WHEN THE WORLD SEEMED NEW: American Foreign Policy in the Age of George H. W. Bush, examining the foreign policy of George H.W. Bush's presidency, during one of history's great turning points: the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the Persian Gulf War; based on interviews with the principals, and access to new documents including the heretofore classified Brent Scowcroft Papers, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, by Andrew Wylie (NA).
British historian and author of ENGLAND'S MISTRESS and BECOMING QUEEN, Kate Williams's MISTRESS OF EMPIRES: Napoleon's Josephine, a biography of Josephine Bonaparte, throwing new light on her childhood in Martinique, her imprisonment following the French Revolution and her years as a kept mistress and courtesan before her marriage to and long love affair with Napoleon, to Susanna Porter at Ballantine, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Simon Trewin, and to Paul Sidey at Hutchinson, by Simon Trewin at United Agents.
Film: glewis@unitedagents.co.uk
MEMOIR:
Billy Joel's memoir, written with Fred Schruers, to David Hirshey at Harper, sold a while ago but just becoming public, by Amanda Urban at ICM.
PhD in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, Margaux Fragoso's TIGER, TIGER, about the author's disturbing relationship with a much older man that began at a city pool in New Jersey when she was seven and lasted until his suicide when she was twenty-two, showing vividly how a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him in what the publisher calls, in its own troubling way, the saddest love story you will ever hear, to Courtney Hodell at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, for publication in winter 2011, by Terra Chalberg at the Susan Golomb Agency (world).
"Saturday Night Live" veteran Jim Breuer's memoir, about his unique career choices, family, fame and life in general, to Patrick Mulligan of Gotham, in a pre-empt, to Peter McGuigan of Foundry Literary + Media.
Glen Finland's NEXT STOP, about the summer the author and her 21-year-old autistic son spent riding the Washington, DC metro system together with the hope of him being able to go solo and be the first step towards his independence, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
Dr. Randy Christensen's ASK ME WHY I HURT, an inspiring memoir about his ten years of heroic medical outreach to homeless adolescents in Phoenix, AZ, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway with Lorraine Glennon editing, at auction, by Richard Pine and Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (world).
NARRATIVE:
Bestselling author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US Alan Weisman's COUNTDOWN, a provocative investigation into the future of humanity on the planet, following John Parsley to Little, Brown, by Nicholas Ellison at Nicholas Ellison (world English).
Andrew Blum's TUBES: A Physical Journey to our Virtual World, a narrative tour of the back-of-house of our digital lives, bringing readers to a vast hidden corner of our everyday world, the physical infrastructure of the Internet, and describing the story of its development, how it works, and the fascinating characters who run it, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
Richard Schickel's CLINT EASTWOOD: A Retrospective, aiming for a definitive look at the film icon, featuring rare images from the Warner Bros. archive, to Michael Fragnito at Sterling, for publication in April 2010, by Colin Webb at Palazzo Editions (world English).
French rights to Flammarion; German to Edel; Finnish to Otava.
SCIENCE:
Leading researcher Diana Reiss's MINDING DOLPHINS: A Scientist's Journey Inside the Minds of Dolphins and Whales, and My Mission to Save Them, a tour of dolphin and whale intelligence, combining stories of Humphrey the humpback whale and her many dolphin companions, with Reiss's activism to save dolphins and whales from wholesale slaughter, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Wrap...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Information vs It's Secret.....
From Secrecy News:
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
** DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
"No information may remain classified indefinitely," according to a draft of an Obama Administration executive order on national security classification policy.
As a statement of principle, this may seem tame and self-evident. But until now, no Administration has been willing to make such a categorical statement about the temporal limits of national security secrecy, and it may have significant policy consequences.
An August 4 draft of the executive order (pdf) was prepared by an interagency task force in response to a May 27 memorandum from the President. The draft is still subject to revision, and has not yet been formally transmitted to the White House for review and approval. Release of the "highly deliberative draft" executive order was specifically denied by National Security Advisory Gen. James L. Jones in a September 2, 2009 letter (pdf). But a copy was obtained by Secrecy News. Some aspects of the draft order were previously reported by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times on September 24.
The draft order, which does not represent anything like a transformation of the existing secrecy system, nevertheless has some valuable and innovative features, as well as some disappointing omissions, and a few retrograde steps. See this side-by-side comparison (pdf) between the August 2009 draft and the current executive order.
The draft order states (section 3.3g) that all records are to be automatically declassified no more than 50 years from the date of origin, with the sole exception of records that would identify a confidential human intelligence source. And even such intelligence records must be declassified no more than 75 years from the date of origin, with no exceptions. This is something new. An existing requirement for "automatic declassification" at 25 years would remain in place, but at the 25 year point there are still nine expansive exemptions to declassification. Under the new policy, the exemptions would diminish over time and then disappear altogether.
The draft would require a "Fundamental Classification Guidance Review," involving a continuing review of all agency classification guides in order "to identify classified information that no longer requires protection and can be declassified" (section 1.9). This is a version of a proposal advanced by Secrecy News (e.g., here and here), and among all of the potential changes to the executive order, it was our top priority. If it worked, the fundamental review would introduce a dynamic new element of self-correction into the classification process.
A National Declassification Center would be established to facilitate interagency review of historical records and to resolve quality control issues, presumably leading to more complete and expeditious access to such declassified records (section 3.7).
Other constructive if not bold steps include: new requirements for training of classification officials in avoiding overclassification; a requirement to identify by name those who derivatively classify information originally classified by others in order to improve accountability; a higher threshold for reclassification of declassified information; provisions for review of previously granted exemptions of file series from 25 year automatic declassification.
On the less constructive side, the draft order affirms that "no agency may declassify information that originated in another agency... without the consent of the originating agency" (section 3.1f). This reinforces a cherished view that agencies "own" the information they produce, and that they retain control over its release and dissemination. It is arguably the single most profound conceptual flaw in the classification system, and it immeasurably complicates the declassification and disclosure process. Even the new National Declassification Center will not possess unilateral authority to declassify information, but will only provide "timely and appropriate processing of referrals" from one agency to another.
The draft order does not make any provision for a "declassification database" that would offer easily accessible electronic versions of declassified records, or at least bibliographic data on exactly what has been declassified.
The draft does not provide enhanced oversight or declassification authority to the Information Security Oversight Office.
The draft would perpetuate the veto authority that was granted to the CIA by the Bush Administration over declassification decisions made by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, but it would transfer that authority from the CIA to the Director of National Intelligence. CIA's seat on the interagency Panel would be reassigned to the DNI.
Beyond the ongoing battles over parochial agency interests that are at stake in the new draft, there seems to be a growing sense that the existing secrecy system, even if it is to be buffed and polished one more time, has finally reached obsolescence.
"As soon as we complete our revision of the existing Order," wrote Gen. Jones on September 2, "I plan to begin discussions... about a more fundamental transformation of the security classification system."
Wrap...
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
** DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
"No information may remain classified indefinitely," according to a draft of an Obama Administration executive order on national security classification policy.
As a statement of principle, this may seem tame and self-evident. But until now, no Administration has been willing to make such a categorical statement about the temporal limits of national security secrecy, and it may have significant policy consequences.
An August 4 draft of the executive order (pdf) was prepared by an interagency task force in response to a May 27 memorandum from the President. The draft is still subject to revision, and has not yet been formally transmitted to the White House for review and approval. Release of the "highly deliberative draft" executive order was specifically denied by National Security Advisory Gen. James L. Jones in a September 2, 2009 letter (pdf). But a copy was obtained by Secrecy News. Some aspects of the draft order were previously reported by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times on September 24.
The draft order, which does not represent anything like a transformation of the existing secrecy system, nevertheless has some valuable and innovative features, as well as some disappointing omissions, and a few retrograde steps. See this side-by-side comparison (pdf) between the August 2009 draft and the current executive order.
The draft order states (section 3.3g) that all records are to be automatically declassified no more than 50 years from the date of origin, with the sole exception of records that would identify a confidential human intelligence source. And even such intelligence records must be declassified no more than 75 years from the date of origin, with no exceptions. This is something new. An existing requirement for "automatic declassification" at 25 years would remain in place, but at the 25 year point there are still nine expansive exemptions to declassification. Under the new policy, the exemptions would diminish over time and then disappear altogether.
The draft would require a "Fundamental Classification Guidance Review," involving a continuing review of all agency classification guides in order "to identify classified information that no longer requires protection and can be declassified" (section 1.9). This is a version of a proposal advanced by Secrecy News (e.g., here and here), and among all of the potential changes to the executive order, it was our top priority. If it worked, the fundamental review would introduce a dynamic new element of self-correction into the classification process.
A National Declassification Center would be established to facilitate interagency review of historical records and to resolve quality control issues, presumably leading to more complete and expeditious access to such declassified records (section 3.7).
Other constructive if not bold steps include: new requirements for training of classification officials in avoiding overclassification; a requirement to identify by name those who derivatively classify information originally classified by others in order to improve accountability; a higher threshold for reclassification of declassified information; provisions for review of previously granted exemptions of file series from 25 year automatic declassification.
On the less constructive side, the draft order affirms that "no agency may declassify information that originated in another agency... without the consent of the originating agency" (section 3.1f). This reinforces a cherished view that agencies "own" the information they produce, and that they retain control over its release and dissemination. It is arguably the single most profound conceptual flaw in the classification system, and it immeasurably complicates the declassification and disclosure process. Even the new National Declassification Center will not possess unilateral authority to declassify information, but will only provide "timely and appropriate processing of referrals" from one agency to another.
The draft order does not make any provision for a "declassification database" that would offer easily accessible electronic versions of declassified records, or at least bibliographic data on exactly what has been declassified.
The draft does not provide enhanced oversight or declassification authority to the Information Security Oversight Office.
The draft would perpetuate the veto authority that was granted to the CIA by the Bush Administration over declassification decisions made by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, but it would transfer that authority from the CIA to the Director of National Intelligence. CIA's seat on the interagency Panel would be reassigned to the DNI.
Beyond the ongoing battles over parochial agency interests that are at stake in the new draft, there seems to be a growing sense that the existing secrecy system, even if it is to be buffed and polished one more time, has finally reached obsolescence.
"As soon as we complete our revision of the existing Order," wrote Gen. Jones on September 2, "I plan to begin discussions... about a more fundamental transformation of the security classification system."
Wrap...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Some More Good Books....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION/DEBUT:
Meg Mitchell Moore's THE ARRIVALS, set in Vermont, about three siblings who return to their parents' home for the summer and must contend with the adult problems they've brought with them under their childhood roof, to Reagan Arthur at Reagan Arthur Books, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary (World English).
Twitter phenom Matt Stewart's humorous epic of one dysfunctional family's quest for fame and power in present-day San Francisco, written in a loose parallel of the French Revolution, to Denise Oswald at Soft Skull, by Lisa Grubka at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
Foreign: sabou@foundrymedia.com
THRILLER:
Executive producer and show runner of TV's "24," Howard Gordon's THE OBELISK, a thriller that follows Washington insider Gideon Davis as he becomes embroiled in a vast global conspiracy involving oil, terrorism, pirates, and politics, to Stacy Creamer at Touchstone Fireside (and Pocket for paperback), for publication beginning in fall 2010, plus a sequel at Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Whitbread award winner Susan Fletcher's story of a condemned witch as she describes her role in a gruesome massacre to a man who, despite being initially convinced of her guilt, begins to see the truth, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, in a very nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Grainne Fox at Fletcher & Company on behalf of Vivienne Schuster at Curtis Brown, UK (NA).
A bestseller in South Korea, Shin Kyong-sook's PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM, chronicling a family's shock and despair following the matriarch's disappearance, as the mystery of one Mom illuminates the mysteries of all moms, to Robin Desser at Knopf, in a pre-empt, for publication in May 2011, by Barbara Zitwer at Barbara Zitwer Agency (US). UK/Commonwealth rights to Arzu Tahsin for Weidenfeld & Nicolson, also in a pre-empt.
The Sixteen Pleasures and The Fall of a Sparrow author Robert Hellenga's SNAKEWOMAN OF LITTLE EGYPT, the story of an anthropology professor who becomes fascinated with a community of evangelical snake-handlers in rural Illinois, and falls in love with a woman from there who's recently shot her preacher husband, to Nancy Miller at Bloomsbury, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Author of THE FAMILY Jeff Sharlet's C STREET, an new investigation into religious fundamentalism and American politics, to Geoff Shandler and John Parsley at Little, Brown, for publication in 2010, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world).
Author of THE ASSASSINS' GATE George Packer's untitled book offering new perspective on post-Obama America, and INTERESTING TIMES, a collection of essays written since 9/11 (NA), for publication in November 2009, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world, excl. UK).
Spy for the CIA against the Iranian government Reza Kahlili's A TIME TO BETRAY, the story of life in Iran in the time of the last shah, the spirit that led to his overthrow in 1979, the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, the way the ayatollah and his mullahs stripped people of their freedom, and the way some people chose to engage in a fight that continues to this very day, to Anthony Ziccardi of Pocket, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
MEMOIR:
Boston University journalism professor Mitchell Zuckoff's SHANGRI-LA: The Epic True Story of a World War II Plane Crash Into the Stone Age, a story of war, survival, heroism and a near-impossible rescue mission three months before the end of the war, as an American pilot crashes in New Zealand mountains inhabited by the Dani tribesman, with the three survivors ultimately saved in dramatic fashion, to Jonathan Burnham and Claire Wachtel at Harper, for publication in spring 2011, by Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
NARRATIVE:
Caitlin Kelly's RETAIL THERAPY, an eye-opening account of working in retail, from an author who, finding herself unemployed at 50, got a job at the mall and a new perspective on work and life, to Courtney Young at Portfolio, in a very nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (World).
PARENTING:
Former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete's NOT MY BOY!: A Dad's Journey with Autism, a look inside his journey raising an autistic son, a look that provides inspiration and help for families facing big child-raising challenges, to Barbara Jones at Hyperion, at auction, for publication in April 2010, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin and Jennifer Gates at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world English).
SCIENCE:
NYT reporter Charles Duhigg's THE POWER OF HABIT: What the New Science of Habit Formation Can Teach Us About How We Live, Work, Spend, Build and Succeed, to Andy Ward at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Scott Moyers at The Wylie Agency.
Wrap...
FICTION/DEBUT:
Meg Mitchell Moore's THE ARRIVALS, set in Vermont, about three siblings who return to their parents' home for the summer and must contend with the adult problems they've brought with them under their childhood roof, to Reagan Arthur at Reagan Arthur Books, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary (World English).
Twitter phenom Matt Stewart's humorous epic of one dysfunctional family's quest for fame and power in present-day San Francisco, written in a loose parallel of the French Revolution, to Denise Oswald at Soft Skull, by Lisa Grubka at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
Foreign: sabou@foundrymedia.com
THRILLER:
Executive producer and show runner of TV's "24," Howard Gordon's THE OBELISK, a thriller that follows Washington insider Gideon Davis as he becomes embroiled in a vast global conspiracy involving oil, terrorism, pirates, and politics, to Stacy Creamer at Touchstone Fireside (and Pocket for paperback), for publication beginning in fall 2010, plus a sequel at Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Whitbread award winner Susan Fletcher's story of a condemned witch as she describes her role in a gruesome massacre to a man who, despite being initially convinced of her guilt, begins to see the truth, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, in a very nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Grainne Fox at Fletcher & Company on behalf of Vivienne Schuster at Curtis Brown, UK (NA).
A bestseller in South Korea, Shin Kyong-sook's PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM, chronicling a family's shock and despair following the matriarch's disappearance, as the mystery of one Mom illuminates the mysteries of all moms, to Robin Desser at Knopf, in a pre-empt, for publication in May 2011, by Barbara Zitwer at Barbara Zitwer Agency (US). UK/Commonwealth rights to Arzu Tahsin for Weidenfeld & Nicolson, also in a pre-empt.
The Sixteen Pleasures and The Fall of a Sparrow author Robert Hellenga's SNAKEWOMAN OF LITTLE EGYPT, the story of an anthropology professor who becomes fascinated with a community of evangelical snake-handlers in rural Illinois, and falls in love with a woman from there who's recently shot her preacher husband, to Nancy Miller at Bloomsbury, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Author of THE FAMILY Jeff Sharlet's C STREET, an new investigation into religious fundamentalism and American politics, to Geoff Shandler and John Parsley at Little, Brown, for publication in 2010, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world).
Author of THE ASSASSINS' GATE George Packer's untitled book offering new perspective on post-Obama America, and INTERESTING TIMES, a collection of essays written since 9/11 (NA), for publication in November 2009, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world, excl. UK).
Spy for the CIA against the Iranian government Reza Kahlili's A TIME TO BETRAY, the story of life in Iran in the time of the last shah, the spirit that led to his overthrow in 1979, the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, the way the ayatollah and his mullahs stripped people of their freedom, and the way some people chose to engage in a fight that continues to this very day, to Anthony Ziccardi of Pocket, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
MEMOIR:
Boston University journalism professor Mitchell Zuckoff's SHANGRI-LA: The Epic True Story of a World War II Plane Crash Into the Stone Age, a story of war, survival, heroism and a near-impossible rescue mission three months before the end of the war, as an American pilot crashes in New Zealand mountains inhabited by the Dani tribesman, with the three survivors ultimately saved in dramatic fashion, to Jonathan Burnham and Claire Wachtel at Harper, for publication in spring 2011, by Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
NARRATIVE:
Caitlin Kelly's RETAIL THERAPY, an eye-opening account of working in retail, from an author who, finding herself unemployed at 50, got a job at the mall and a new perspective on work and life, to Courtney Young at Portfolio, in a very nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (World).
PARENTING:
Former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete's NOT MY BOY!: A Dad's Journey with Autism, a look inside his journey raising an autistic son, a look that provides inspiration and help for families facing big child-raising challenges, to Barbara Jones at Hyperion, at auction, for publication in April 2010, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin and Jennifer Gates at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world English).
SCIENCE:
NYT reporter Charles Duhigg's THE POWER OF HABIT: What the New Science of Habit Formation Can Teach Us About How We Live, Work, Spend, Build and Succeed, to Andy Ward at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Scott Moyers at The Wylie Agency.
Wrap...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Crazy Like A Fox...the book...
From the co-author:
Hello,
The publication of my book, Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal’s Triumph
in the Inner City, is almost here!
On September 1, the New American Library (a division of Penguin) will
release the hardcover version, which will be available at Barnes &
Noble, Borders, other major chains, and independent bookstores. You
can also order the book online.
For those of you unfamiliar with the content of Crazy Like a Fox: One
Principal’s Triumph in the Inner City, here’s a brief description:
“Litter-strewn and rundown with unsupervised students and horrible
test scores and attendance rates, American Indian Public Charter
School (AIPCS) in Oakland, CA, hung rightfully on the brink of
closure. Dr. Ben Chavis said he'd like to take over the school, then
referred to as ‘the zoo.’ Was Chavis crazy? After being appointed
principal, he raised the bar with an approach that would make most
educators tremble and set the school apart as one of the finest middle
schools in all of California.”
I worked for Dr. Ben Chavis in Oakland as a teacher and administrator
for four years, and during that time I developed the book idea. After
trying different stylistic approaches, I wrote the story of AIPCS’s
remarkable turnaround in Chavis’s own no-nonsense voice. In essence, I
wrote his memoir. As a result, Crazy Like a Fox is like a “celebrity”
book with author credits of “By Dr. Ben Chavis with Carey Blakely.”
Wrap...
Hello,
The publication of my book, Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal’s Triumph
in the Inner City, is almost here!
On September 1, the New American Library (a division of Penguin) will
release the hardcover version, which will be available at Barnes &
Noble, Borders, other major chains, and independent bookstores. You
can also order the book online.
For those of you unfamiliar with the content of Crazy Like a Fox: One
Principal’s Triumph in the Inner City, here’s a brief description:
“Litter-strewn and rundown with unsupervised students and horrible
test scores and attendance rates, American Indian Public Charter
School (AIPCS) in Oakland, CA, hung rightfully on the brink of
closure. Dr. Ben Chavis said he'd like to take over the school, then
referred to as ‘the zoo.’ Was Chavis crazy? After being appointed
principal, he raised the bar with an approach that would make most
educators tremble and set the school apart as one of the finest middle
schools in all of California.”
I worked for Dr. Ben Chavis in Oakland as a teacher and administrator
for four years, and during that time I developed the book idea. After
trying different stylistic approaches, I wrote the story of AIPCS’s
remarkable turnaround in Chavis’s own no-nonsense voice. In essence, I
wrote his memoir. As a result, Crazy Like a Fox is like a “celebrity”
book with author credits of “By Dr. Ben Chavis with Carey Blakely.”
Wrap...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Interesting & Surprising Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION
DEBUT:
Former advertising executive John Verdon's debut novel THINK OF A NUMBER, about a super-intelligent killer who lures potential victims by taunting them to think of random numbers, and then, by seeming to read their minds, directs their actions toward a diabolical outcome, as well as two additional novels featuring the same protagonist, pitched as a cross between Thomas Harris and Michael Connelly, to Rick Horgan at Crown, at auction, for three books, for publication beginning in the summer of 2010, by Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Agency (NA).
Daniel Johnson's ELECTRIC, taking place in Detroit in the early 1900s; the stories explore a forgotten part of the Car and whole Industrial Revolution, to Daniela Rapp of St. Martin's, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Cherry Weiner at Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Stephen J. Cannell's next two books in the Shane Scully series, again to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.
THRILLER:
Dana Haynes's CRASHERS, in which a jetliner crashes in the lush lovely Willamette Valley of Oregon, triggering a response from the NTSB team of "crashers"-the investigators; usually they have months to find the cause of the crash; this time it's 70 hours, to Keith Kahla at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (world).Film: Brendan@fineprintlit.com
GENERAL/OTHER:
Another 17 books by James Patterson, covering publication through 2012, including eleven adult titles for hardcover publication by Little, Brown and paperbacks by Grand Central, with new installments in the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, and Women's Murder Club series, and his previously-announced collaboration with Scandinavian crime writer Liza Marklund, plus six titles for young readers from Little, Brown Children's, including new titles in the Maximum Ride, Daniel X and forthcoming Witch & Wizard series, but also including stand-alone novels, summer thrillers, nonfiction books, and "other surprises," by Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell at Williams & Connolly (NA).
CHILDREN'S/PICTURE BOOKS:
Former SNL star Molly Shannon's TILLY THE TRICKSTER, introducing Tilly, a mischievous trickster who loves April Fool's Day; when Tilly takes one of her pranks too far, hard lessons are learned (but only kinda), to Tamar Brazis at Abrams Children's, by Tina Wexler at ICM (NA).
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day author Judith Viorst and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales Lane Smith's LULU AND THE BRONTOSAURUS, to Namrata Tripathi at Atheneum, by Robert Lescher of Lescher & Lescher for Viorst, and Steven Malk of Writers House for Smith.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Eric Jay Dolin's FAR EASTERN FORTUNE: THE AMERICAN CHINA TRADE IN THE AGE OF SAIL, a history of 80 years of nautical, commercial, and cultural adventure that laid the groundwork for today's complex relationship with China, to Robert Weil at Norton, for publication in 2011, by Russell Galen at Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: barorint@aol.com
LIFESTYLE:
Santa Monica-based interior designer Tim Clarke with Jake Townsend's COASTAL MODERN, a photography book of residences that demonstrates how to achieve the sense of comfort and ease of a beach house in an elegant, sophisticated, and modern way, by the designer who started his career working with Michael S. Smith and who has now designed homes for Ben Stiller, Portia de Rossi, James Spader, Matthew Perry, and more, to Aliza Fogelson at Clarkson Potter, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
Tim Gunn's GUNN'S GOLDEN RULES: Life's Little Instructions for Making It Work, applying old-world values to modern situations, from the lost art of etiquette to practical advice, showing how to navigate life and unflappably rise to any occasion, to Patrick Price at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in June 2010, by Peter Steinberg at The Steinberg Agency (world).
MEMOIR:
Gourmet.com blogger W. Hodding Carter's WITHIN OUR MEANS, in which the author and his family of six aims to live on their actual yearly income instead of the more than three times that amount they have been, growing their own food, raising chickens and goats, hunting and fishing, converting their car so that it runs on French fry oil, chopping wood to fuel a stove and giving up luxuries like coffee, wine and processed foods, to Kathy Pories at Algonquin, by Sally Wofford-Girand of Brick House.
Ozzy Osbourne's I AM OZZY, the heavy metal pioneer's outrageous story in his own words, for the very first time, to Ben Greenberg at Grand Central, by Diane Spivey at Little Brown UK.
NARRATIVE:
Travel + Leisure editor Luke Barr's PROVENCE 1970, a narrative portrait of the brief but seminal moment in world food history when, in the fall and winter of 1970, Julia Child, Simone Beck, James Beard, Richard Olney, and Barr's great aunt, M.F.K. Fisher, lived as neighbors together in the south of France -- cooking, eating, talking, writing, and forever changing the culture of American cuisine -- to Doris Cooper and Emily Takoudes at Clarkson Potter, at auction, by David Kuhn at Kuhn Projectss (world).
SCIENCE:
Astronomer, NPR host, and Farmer's Almanac science editor Bob Berman's THE STRANGE HEARTBEAT OF SUN, contemplating the sun's fascinating, fundamental role in crop yields, weather vagaries, human health, life on Earth - and other unexpected facts arising from scientists' 400 year-old study of Earth's closest star, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House (World).
Wrap....
FICTION
DEBUT:
Former advertising executive John Verdon's debut novel THINK OF A NUMBER, about a super-intelligent killer who lures potential victims by taunting them to think of random numbers, and then, by seeming to read their minds, directs their actions toward a diabolical outcome, as well as two additional novels featuring the same protagonist, pitched as a cross between Thomas Harris and Michael Connelly, to Rick Horgan at Crown, at auction, for three books, for publication beginning in the summer of 2010, by Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Agency (NA).
Daniel Johnson's ELECTRIC, taking place in Detroit in the early 1900s; the stories explore a forgotten part of the Car and whole Industrial Revolution, to Daniela Rapp of St. Martin's, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Cherry Weiner at Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Stephen J. Cannell's next two books in the Shane Scully series, again to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.
THRILLER:
Dana Haynes's CRASHERS, in which a jetliner crashes in the lush lovely Willamette Valley of Oregon, triggering a response from the NTSB team of "crashers"-the investigators; usually they have months to find the cause of the crash; this time it's 70 hours, to Keith Kahla at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (world).Film: Brendan@fineprintlit.com
GENERAL/OTHER:
Another 17 books by James Patterson, covering publication through 2012, including eleven adult titles for hardcover publication by Little, Brown and paperbacks by Grand Central, with new installments in the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, and Women's Murder Club series, and his previously-announced collaboration with Scandinavian crime writer Liza Marklund, plus six titles for young readers from Little, Brown Children's, including new titles in the Maximum Ride, Daniel X and forthcoming Witch & Wizard series, but also including stand-alone novels, summer thrillers, nonfiction books, and "other surprises," by Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell at Williams & Connolly (NA).
CHILDREN'S/PICTURE BOOKS:
Former SNL star Molly Shannon's TILLY THE TRICKSTER, introducing Tilly, a mischievous trickster who loves April Fool's Day; when Tilly takes one of her pranks too far, hard lessons are learned (but only kinda), to Tamar Brazis at Abrams Children's, by Tina Wexler at ICM (NA).
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day author Judith Viorst and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales Lane Smith's LULU AND THE BRONTOSAURUS, to Namrata Tripathi at Atheneum, by Robert Lescher of Lescher & Lescher for Viorst, and Steven Malk of Writers House for Smith.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Eric Jay Dolin's FAR EASTERN FORTUNE: THE AMERICAN CHINA TRADE IN THE AGE OF SAIL, a history of 80 years of nautical, commercial, and cultural adventure that laid the groundwork for today's complex relationship with China, to Robert Weil at Norton, for publication in 2011, by Russell Galen at Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: barorint@aol.com
LIFESTYLE:
Santa Monica-based interior designer Tim Clarke with Jake Townsend's COASTAL MODERN, a photography book of residences that demonstrates how to achieve the sense of comfort and ease of a beach house in an elegant, sophisticated, and modern way, by the designer who started his career working with Michael S. Smith and who has now designed homes for Ben Stiller, Portia de Rossi, James Spader, Matthew Perry, and more, to Aliza Fogelson at Clarkson Potter, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
Tim Gunn's GUNN'S GOLDEN RULES: Life's Little Instructions for Making It Work, applying old-world values to modern situations, from the lost art of etiquette to practical advice, showing how to navigate life and unflappably rise to any occasion, to Patrick Price at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in June 2010, by Peter Steinberg at The Steinberg Agency (world).
MEMOIR:
Gourmet.com blogger W. Hodding Carter's WITHIN OUR MEANS, in which the author and his family of six aims to live on their actual yearly income instead of the more than three times that amount they have been, growing their own food, raising chickens and goats, hunting and fishing, converting their car so that it runs on French fry oil, chopping wood to fuel a stove and giving up luxuries like coffee, wine and processed foods, to Kathy Pories at Algonquin, by Sally Wofford-Girand of Brick House.
Ozzy Osbourne's I AM OZZY, the heavy metal pioneer's outrageous story in his own words, for the very first time, to Ben Greenberg at Grand Central, by Diane Spivey at Little Brown UK.
NARRATIVE:
Travel + Leisure editor Luke Barr's PROVENCE 1970, a narrative portrait of the brief but seminal moment in world food history when, in the fall and winter of 1970, Julia Child, Simone Beck, James Beard, Richard Olney, and Barr's great aunt, M.F.K. Fisher, lived as neighbors together in the south of France -- cooking, eating, talking, writing, and forever changing the culture of American cuisine -- to Doris Cooper and Emily Takoudes at Clarkson Potter, at auction, by David Kuhn at Kuhn Projectss (world).
SCIENCE:
Astronomer, NPR host, and Farmer's Almanac science editor Bob Berman's THE STRANGE HEARTBEAT OF SUN, contemplating the sun's fascinating, fundamental role in crop yields, weather vagaries, human health, life on Earth - and other unexpected facts arising from scientists' 400 year-old study of Earth's closest star, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House (World).
Wrap....
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Running for Congress....
Sunday..9/13/09:
Just had a phone call from Budd McLeroy. Budd is an Army Master Sgt, Iraq vet, former firefighter, and did it all with one leg. You'd never know because if there's anything he's not, it's disabled. He's also a Republican.
In any case, he's an old friend. He'll be pulling his papers and entering the race for Congress, running against Dem Bob Filner. Both are from the Chula Vista area, just south of the city of San Diego, CA.
I've never known Budd to back down from anything, so if he says he's going to run for Congress, he surely will.
I wished him luck, but as a Democrat, I hope he loses. But narrowly.
Wrap...
Just had a phone call from Budd McLeroy. Budd is an Army Master Sgt, Iraq vet, former firefighter, and did it all with one leg. You'd never know because if there's anything he's not, it's disabled. He's also a Republican.
In any case, he's an old friend. He'll be pulling his papers and entering the race for Congress, running against Dem Bob Filner. Both are from the Chula Vista area, just south of the city of San Diego, CA.
I've never known Budd to back down from anything, so if he says he's going to run for Congress, he surely will.
I wished him luck, but as a Democrat, I hope he loses. But narrowly.
Wrap...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A Selection of Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Jacob Ritari's TAROKO GORGE, the story of three Japanese girls who go missing and the international cast of characters left to figure out what happened, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Fiction author of AGAINST GRAVITY and winner of the Faulkner Society's annual award Lucy Ferris's THE WOMAN WHO BOUGHT THE SKY, set in Albany, New York 100 years before the American Revolution, in which a woman who to keep her family secure stays in an unhappy marriage and turns away the love of her life rather than risk losing precious, hard-worn land holdings, to David Hartwell at Tor, by Al Zuckerman of Writers House (NA).
CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:
Tricia Springstubb's FOX HEART, pitched as in the vein of Kate DiCamillo, the story of a girl's extraordinary summer, when her neighborhood and family change forever, to Donna Bray at Balzer & Bray, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: info@rightspeople.com
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Stephanie Perkins's ANNA AND THE BOY MASTERPIECE, in which American Anna Oliphant spends a year in a Parisian boarding school and falls for her multi-national classmate, plus a companion novel, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, to Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton Children's, in a very nice deal, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kate Schafer Testerman at kt literary (World English).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix Steven Roby and journalist Brad Schreiber's BECOMING JIMI: From Southern Crossroads to Swinging London, the Making of a Musical Genius, a look at the seminal five-year period of Jimi Hendrix's life, from 1962 to 1966, in which he played on the "chitlin' circuit" -- cutting his chops playing with such legendary acts as Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, the Isley Brothers and dozens of bar bands -- in the segregated Deep South, followed by cult buzz in coffeehouses in Greenwich Village, and finally contrasting with the superstardom he would soon find in London, to Ben Schafer at Da Capo, by Matthew Carnicelli at Trident Media Group (world English).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Former WSJ economics reporter and now US economics editor for The Economist Greg Ip's untitled book on economics, to Debra Englander at Wiley, in a pre-empt, by Howard Yoon of the Gail Ross Literary Agency (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Pulitzer Prize-winner, Philadelphia Daily News writer and author of TEAR DOWN THIS MYTH Will Bunch's REBELS WITHOUT A CLUE: The Threat to America from an Armed, Apocalyptic Right-Wing Minority, a chronicle of a new American dystopia of extreme talk and extreme actions in the Obama era, to Matt Harper at Harper, at auction, for publication in 2010, by Will Lippincott at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (NA).
MEMOIR:
Actor and screenwriter Marianne Leone Cooper's THE RUNNING MADONNA, a loving memoir of raising her son Jesse, a nonverbal child afflicted with cerebral palsy, with her husband, actor Chris Cooper, to Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Colleen Mohyde of Doe Coover Agency.
Emmy award-winning actress who played Mary Ingalls Melissa Anderson's memoir of "Little House on the Prairie," to Erin Turner of Globe Pequot, by Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency (World English).
SCIENCE:
Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis's THE SHAPE OF INNER SPACE: Surveying the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, an argument, by the leading mind behind the mathematics of string theory, for the fundamental importance of geometry to our understanding of our universe, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a good deal, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Psychologist Matthew Hertenstein's PREVISIONING: Thin Slicing and the Surprising Truth About the Power of Prediction, a look at how we can use subtle clues to predict human behavior, from who'll get divorced to who'll win an election, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a very nice deal, for publication in Summer 2011, by Shannon O'Neill at The Sagalyn Agency (World).
TRUE CRIME:
John Glatt's story of the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 by registered sex offender Phillip Garrido, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Jacob Ritari's TAROKO GORGE, the story of three Japanese girls who go missing and the international cast of characters left to figure out what happened, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Fiction author of AGAINST GRAVITY and winner of the Faulkner Society's annual award Lucy Ferris's THE WOMAN WHO BOUGHT THE SKY, set in Albany, New York 100 years before the American Revolution, in which a woman who to keep her family secure stays in an unhappy marriage and turns away the love of her life rather than risk losing precious, hard-worn land holdings, to David Hartwell at Tor, by Al Zuckerman of Writers House (NA).
CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:
Tricia Springstubb's FOX HEART, pitched as in the vein of Kate DiCamillo, the story of a girl's extraordinary summer, when her neighborhood and family change forever, to Donna Bray at Balzer & Bray, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: info@rightspeople.com
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Stephanie Perkins's ANNA AND THE BOY MASTERPIECE, in which American Anna Oliphant spends a year in a Parisian boarding school and falls for her multi-national classmate, plus a companion novel, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, to Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton Children's, in a very nice deal, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kate Schafer Testerman at kt literary (World English).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix Steven Roby and journalist Brad Schreiber's BECOMING JIMI: From Southern Crossroads to Swinging London, the Making of a Musical Genius, a look at the seminal five-year period of Jimi Hendrix's life, from 1962 to 1966, in which he played on the "chitlin' circuit" -- cutting his chops playing with such legendary acts as Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, the Isley Brothers and dozens of bar bands -- in the segregated Deep South, followed by cult buzz in coffeehouses in Greenwich Village, and finally contrasting with the superstardom he would soon find in London, to Ben Schafer at Da Capo, by Matthew Carnicelli at Trident Media Group (world English).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Former WSJ economics reporter and now US economics editor for The Economist Greg Ip's untitled book on economics, to Debra Englander at Wiley, in a pre-empt, by Howard Yoon of the Gail Ross Literary Agency (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Pulitzer Prize-winner, Philadelphia Daily News writer and author of TEAR DOWN THIS MYTH Will Bunch's REBELS WITHOUT A CLUE: The Threat to America from an Armed, Apocalyptic Right-Wing Minority, a chronicle of a new American dystopia of extreme talk and extreme actions in the Obama era, to Matt Harper at Harper, at auction, for publication in 2010, by Will Lippincott at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (NA).
MEMOIR:
Actor and screenwriter Marianne Leone Cooper's THE RUNNING MADONNA, a loving memoir of raising her son Jesse, a nonverbal child afflicted with cerebral palsy, with her husband, actor Chris Cooper, to Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Colleen Mohyde of Doe Coover Agency.
Emmy award-winning actress who played Mary Ingalls Melissa Anderson's memoir of "Little House on the Prairie," to Erin Turner of Globe Pequot, by Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency (World English).
SCIENCE:
Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis's THE SHAPE OF INNER SPACE: Surveying the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, an argument, by the leading mind behind the mathematics of string theory, for the fundamental importance of geometry to our understanding of our universe, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a good deal, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Psychologist Matthew Hertenstein's PREVISIONING: Thin Slicing and the Surprising Truth About the Power of Prediction, a look at how we can use subtle clues to predict human behavior, from who'll get divorced to who'll win an election, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a very nice deal, for publication in Summer 2011, by Shannon O'Neill at The Sagalyn Agency (World).
TRUE CRIME:
John Glatt's story of the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 by registered sex offender Phillip Garrido, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
Wrap...
Sunday, September 06, 2009
We want HEALTH CARE...
But one thing seems to be forgotten:
THE PRESIDENT PROPOSES
THE CONGRESS DISPOSES
Got that? So...come Wed evening, the President is going to speak to Congress and PROPOSE.
Once that's done, guess what the Congress is gonna do. It's gonna DISPOSE. And there's no way in hell to know what the outcome will be until the votes are counted.
If Health Care with a public option doesn't pass it will be the fault of the Congress, not the President. He can only sign or veto.
Wrap...
THE PRESIDENT PROPOSES
THE CONGRESS DISPOSES
Got that? So...come Wed evening, the President is going to speak to Congress and PROPOSE.
Once that's done, guess what the Congress is gonna do. It's gonna DISPOSE. And there's no way in hell to know what the outcome will be until the votes are counted.
If Health Care with a public option doesn't pass it will be the fault of the Congress, not the President. He can only sign or veto.
Wrap...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Keeping or Telling Secrets...
From Secrecy News:
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
INTERAGENCY SECRECY REVIEWS DRAW TO A CLOSE
Two 90-day interagency reviews of government secrecy policies that were ordered by President Obama on May 27 are now essentially complete.
A review of the current executive order on classification policy is finished except for a few "sticky" issues pertaining to intelligence agency authorities, according to one participant in the interagency process. The recommendations of that review have not yet been transmitted to the White House. A separate review of procedures for handling "controlled unclassified information" (CUI) produced recommendations that were sent to the White House last week, though the contents have not been disclosed.
Both reviews were the subject of considerable public comment, and the resulting recommendations include at least some proposed changes that are directly traceable to public input, the participant said. But he also cautioned against overly high expectations for the outcome, especially given the insular character of the deliberative process, which was dominated by agency classification personnel. "You've got a bunch of foxes designing security for the henhouse," he said.
The recommendations that were produced by the interagency reviews must still be reviewed by the White House and then approved or modified, a process that could take months. A decision on whether to invite additional public comment has not yet been announced.
Wrap...
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
INTERAGENCY SECRECY REVIEWS DRAW TO A CLOSE
Two 90-day interagency reviews of government secrecy policies that were ordered by President Obama on May 27 are now essentially complete.
A review of the current executive order on classification policy is finished except for a few "sticky" issues pertaining to intelligence agency authorities, according to one participant in the interagency process. The recommendations of that review have not yet been transmitted to the White House. A separate review of procedures for handling "controlled unclassified information" (CUI) produced recommendations that were sent to the White House last week, though the contents have not been disclosed.
Both reviews were the subject of considerable public comment, and the resulting recommendations include at least some proposed changes that are directly traceable to public input, the participant said. But he also cautioned against overly high expectations for the outcome, especially given the insular character of the deliberative process, which was dominated by agency classification personnel. "You've got a bunch of foxes designing security for the henhouse," he said.
The recommendations that were produced by the interagency reviews must still be reviewed by the White House and then approved or modified, a process that could take months. A decision on whether to invite additional public comment has not yet been announced.
Wrap...
Friday, August 28, 2009
Two Films & Lots of Books On The Way....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
WOMENS/ROMANCE:
RWA Golden Heart winner Darynda Jones' FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT and two subsequent novels featuring a heroine who is a private investigator and has a side job as a grim reaper, to Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, by Alexandra Machinist at Linda Chester (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER...
PEN-nominated author of UNDISCOVERED GYRL Allison Burnett's DEATH BY SUNSHINE, concluding his B.K. Troop trilogy with this story of a flamboyant, aging New York City bon vivant who visits Los Angeles for the first time and finds himself embroiled in a murder case, to Don Weise at Alyson Books, for publication in Fall 2010, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (World English).
Dave Madden's THE AUTHENTIC ANIMAL: Inside the Odd and Obsessive World of Taxidermy, an intriguing look at the relationship between animals and the humans who painstakingly preserve them in life-like form, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, by Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman (world English).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT...
Kerstin Gier's RUBY RED trilogy, in which a 16-year old discovers her family's time-travel gene when she mysteriously lands in the last century, to Laura Godwin at Holt Children's, by Alex Webb at Rights People, on behalf of Arena Verlag (NA).
FILM...
Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Lawrence Hill's THE BOOK OF NEGROES, to producers Damon D'Oliveira and Clement Virgo, who will also direct, by Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group in association with Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss & Associates.
Tish Cohen's INSIDE OUT GIRL, optioned to writing/producing team Steven Pearl and Allison Burnett, by Kassie Evashevski at UTA, on behalf of Daniel Lazar at Writers House.
NON-FICTION:
BIOGRAPHY...
John Jenkins's REHNQUIST, a biography of the most influential, and least understood, chief justice in the court's modern era that will probe the origins of Rehnquist's conservatism; show his hand as a young justice intent on approving the death penalty and slowing the spread of abortion rights; and draw vivid pictures of his presiding role in the most important judicial decisions of our time, to Clive Priddle at Public Affairs, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
Case Western Reserve University comic book scholar Bradley Ricca's SUPER BOYS: JERRY SIEGEL, JOE SHUSTER, AND THE CREATION OF SUPERMAN, the first-ever biography of the creators of Superman, detailing the complex lifelong collaboration and occasional betrayals, private dramas and public struggles, that accompanied their creation of perhaps the most iconic fictional figure of the 20th century, to Michael Homler at St. Martin's, by Scott Mendel at the Mendel Media Group (World English).
Translation: scott@mendelmedia.com
UK: kerry.nordling@stmartins.com
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
43Folders.com founder Merlin Mann's INBOX ZERO, exploring the popular myths about "email organization," and provides an inspiring blueprint for managing our attention and making things that matter, to Julia Cheiffetz at Harper Studio, by Pilar Queen at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world).
HEALTH...
UCLA cardiologist Dr. Barbara Natterson Horowitz and journalist Kathryn Bowers's ZOOBIQUITY, describing a new, species-spanning approach to health which explores the surprising overlaps between animal and human disease, and encourages collaboration between veterinarians and human doctors to the benefit of both, to Jordan Pavlin at Knopf, in a pre-empt, by Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
Journalist and editor for Foreign Affairs, Newsweek International, and Foreign Policy William Dobson's book on the changing nature of modern dictatorship, telling the story of the hidden, unconventional battle between 21st century authoritarians and the dissidents that target their tyranny, arguing that authoritarian regimes have evolved amidst new technologies and changing definitions of political liberty, to Kris Puopolo at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, by Will Lippincott of Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
UK...
Willard professor of classics, professor of history and fellow of the Archaeology Centre at Stanford University, and author of the forthcoming WHY THE WEST RULES...FOR NOW Ian Morris's WAR: WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR, combining history, current affairs and cultural evolution, to explain that in the long-run, war has made us richer and safer, but the next 20 years will be vital to the planet as a race develops between a war to end all wars, and technological changes that may allow us to manage war successfully, to Daniel Crewe at Profile, by Arabella Stein at Abner Stein, on behalf of Sandy Dijkstra at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (UK).
Wrap...
FICTION...
WOMENS/ROMANCE:
RWA Golden Heart winner Darynda Jones' FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT and two subsequent novels featuring a heroine who is a private investigator and has a side job as a grim reaper, to Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, by Alexandra Machinist at Linda Chester (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER...
PEN-nominated author of UNDISCOVERED GYRL Allison Burnett's DEATH BY SUNSHINE, concluding his B.K. Troop trilogy with this story of a flamboyant, aging New York City bon vivant who visits Los Angeles for the first time and finds himself embroiled in a murder case, to Don Weise at Alyson Books, for publication in Fall 2010, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (World English).
Dave Madden's THE AUTHENTIC ANIMAL: Inside the Odd and Obsessive World of Taxidermy, an intriguing look at the relationship between animals and the humans who painstakingly preserve them in life-like form, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, by Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman (world English).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT...
Kerstin Gier's RUBY RED trilogy, in which a 16-year old discovers her family's time-travel gene when she mysteriously lands in the last century, to Laura Godwin at Holt Children's, by Alex Webb at Rights People, on behalf of Arena Verlag (NA).
FILM...
Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Lawrence Hill's THE BOOK OF NEGROES, to producers Damon D'Oliveira and Clement Virgo, who will also direct, by Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group in association with Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss & Associates.
Tish Cohen's INSIDE OUT GIRL, optioned to writing/producing team Steven Pearl and Allison Burnett, by Kassie Evashevski at UTA, on behalf of Daniel Lazar at Writers House.
NON-FICTION:
BIOGRAPHY...
John Jenkins's REHNQUIST, a biography of the most influential, and least understood, chief justice in the court's modern era that will probe the origins of Rehnquist's conservatism; show his hand as a young justice intent on approving the death penalty and slowing the spread of abortion rights; and draw vivid pictures of his presiding role in the most important judicial decisions of our time, to Clive Priddle at Public Affairs, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
Case Western Reserve University comic book scholar Bradley Ricca's SUPER BOYS: JERRY SIEGEL, JOE SHUSTER, AND THE CREATION OF SUPERMAN, the first-ever biography of the creators of Superman, detailing the complex lifelong collaboration and occasional betrayals, private dramas and public struggles, that accompanied their creation of perhaps the most iconic fictional figure of the 20th century, to Michael Homler at St. Martin's, by Scott Mendel at the Mendel Media Group (World English).
Translation: scott@mendelmedia.com
UK: kerry.nordling@stmartins.com
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
43Folders.com founder Merlin Mann's INBOX ZERO, exploring the popular myths about "email organization," and provides an inspiring blueprint for managing our attention and making things that matter, to Julia Cheiffetz at Harper Studio, by Pilar Queen at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world).
HEALTH...
UCLA cardiologist Dr. Barbara Natterson Horowitz and journalist Kathryn Bowers's ZOOBIQUITY, describing a new, species-spanning approach to health which explores the surprising overlaps between animal and human disease, and encourages collaboration between veterinarians and human doctors to the benefit of both, to Jordan Pavlin at Knopf, in a pre-empt, by Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
Journalist and editor for Foreign Affairs, Newsweek International, and Foreign Policy William Dobson's book on the changing nature of modern dictatorship, telling the story of the hidden, unconventional battle between 21st century authoritarians and the dissidents that target their tyranny, arguing that authoritarian regimes have evolved amidst new technologies and changing definitions of political liberty, to Kris Puopolo at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, by Will Lippincott of Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
UK...
Willard professor of classics, professor of history and fellow of the Archaeology Centre at Stanford University, and author of the forthcoming WHY THE WEST RULES...FOR NOW Ian Morris's WAR: WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR, combining history, current affairs and cultural evolution, to explain that in the long-run, war has made us richer and safer, but the next 20 years will be vital to the planet as a race develops between a war to end all wars, and technological changes that may allow us to manage war successfully, to Daniel Crewe at Profile, by Arabella Stein at Abner Stein, on behalf of Sandy Dijkstra at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (UK).
Wrap...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
You ain't heard it all yet...Listen & watch...
Received this in email. As a writer friend said, "This wingnut has had his threads stripped." I'd say his brain is contaminated and needs bleaching...tho that probably wouldn't help. Try to watch without gagging.
http://la-gun.Com/manning/obama3/
Wrap...
http://la-gun.Com/manning/obama3/
Wrap...
Friday, August 21, 2009
New Books On the Way....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Volume rights to Shane Jones' LIGHT BOXES, a short novel about a small town that wages war against February that was just optioned by Spike Jonze (who is collaborating with Jones on the screenplay), to Tom Roberge at Penguin, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
UK rights to Simon Prosser at Hamish Hamilton, in a pre-empt.
Stegner Fellow and Stanford/UCSF creative writing professor Alice LaPlante's TURN OF MIND, pitched as having a Patricia Highsmith-esque mystery at its heart, in which the narrator, a brilliant surgeon with Alzheimer's-related dementia, is suspected of killing a neighbor who was her best friend and most worthy adversary, to Morgan Entrekin and Elisabeth Schmitz at Grove/Atlantic, for publication in Winter 2011, by Victoria Skurnick at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world).
Foreign rights to Goldmann in Germany and Orlando in Holland, in pre-empts. ahundley@groveatlantic.com
David Hilton's KINGS OF COLORADO, in which a man reflects back on his childhood when, at age 13, he stabbed his abusive father in the chest and was sentenced to two years at a boys reformatory ranch in Colorado, where corruption was the norm, and troubled boys learned to fend for themselves as they cared for and broke wild horses that were just as willful and untamed as the boys themselves, to Kerri Kolen at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (NA).
THRILLER:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the Ethan Gage historical fiction series (NAPOLEON'S PYRAMIDS, THE ROSETTA KEY, THE DAKOTA CIPHER), William Dietrich's next two novels, THE SHAMBHALA IMPERATIVE, alternating between the 1930s and the present, combining occult Nazi theories, neo-Nazis and contemporary science elements in an adventure revolving around a government conspiracy, and another novel continuing the adventures of 19th century American adventurer Ethan Gage, again to Rakesh Satyal at Harper, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (world).
NON-FICTION:
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS...
Michelle Cove's SHAKE UP THE FAIRYTALE!, a guide that helps single women deal with all stages of "singlehood" and gives them the tools they need to navigate through a changing culture and social order that is still based on "couples," while reassuring single women that happily-ever-after is a lifelong approach to nourishing their sense of well-being, to Gabrielle Moss at Tarcher, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (world English).
BIOGRAPHY:
Professor of French at Boston University Elizabeth Goldsmith's THE CARDINAL'S NIECES, on the adventures of Marie and Hortense Mancini, privileged sisters raised in the court of Louis XIV who fled their husbands and children to travel throughout Europe, gaining notoriety for their roles as gamblers, cross-dressers, mistresses to various kings, and pioneering women writers, to Lindsay Jones at Public Affairs, for publication in Fall 2011, by Erika Storella at The Gernert Company (world).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Retiring Los Angeles chief of police William J. Bratton's business book about the strategic importance of collaboration in today's networked world, co-authored by management expert Zachary Tumin, to Roger Scholl at Broadway Business, for publication in spring 2011, by Alice Martell of Alice Martell Agency.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Yale historian and author of The Dynamite Club John Merriman's THE PARIS COMMUNE OF 1871, the first account for the general reader of the dramatic uprising in which the working class of Paris took up arms against the French government, inspiring Marx, Engels and Bakunin at the time and later Trotsky, Lenin, and Mao as a model of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat,' to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a pre-empt, to Melissa Chinchillo at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Samuel Johnson Prize-winning historian Antony Beevor's one-volume history of World War II, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, for publication in 2012, by Andrew Nurnberg at Andrew Nurnberg Associates (world English).
Marie Claire editor Yael Kohen's WE KILLED: The History of Women in American Comedy, a first-ever oral history of women in American comedy, constructed from interviews with more than 50 of the nation's most prominent female comedians, recounting the trials, tribulations, and thrills of being a woman in the male-dominated comedy world from the 1950s to present, to Sarah Crichton at Sarah Crichton Books, at auction, by David Kuhn of Kuhn Projects (NA).
SCIENCE:
Science policy expert Roger Pielke, Jr.'s NO REGRETS: A Common-Sense Approach to Climate Change, an important look at how to get our response to climate change back on track after more than a decade of failure, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kris Dahl at ICM (World).
24-year-old Brown grad Brian Christian's book about artificial intelligence and communication framed as an inquiry into what makes us human, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, at auction, by Janet Silver at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Former Nation editor and regular Harper's contributor JoAnn Wypijewski's untitled book on class in America, a cross-country road trip (pitched as in the merged spirits of de Tocqueville, What's the Matter with Kansas? and On the Road) to get at the heart of the strained-and-cracking class structure that defines and divides America, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Kevin Birmingham's THE MOST DANGEROUS MASTERPIECE, an account of the writing of James Joyce's Ulysses and the subsequent fight over its publication, with appearances by Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Beach, Nora Barnacle, the obsessed censor Anthony Comstock, and the devilishly crafty Bennett Cerf, to Nick Trautwein at the Penguin Press, for publication in Fall 2012, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Volume rights to Shane Jones' LIGHT BOXES, a short novel about a small town that wages war against February that was just optioned by Spike Jonze (who is collaborating with Jones on the screenplay), to Tom Roberge at Penguin, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
UK rights to Simon Prosser at Hamish Hamilton, in a pre-empt.
Stegner Fellow and Stanford/UCSF creative writing professor Alice LaPlante's TURN OF MIND, pitched as having a Patricia Highsmith-esque mystery at its heart, in which the narrator, a brilliant surgeon with Alzheimer's-related dementia, is suspected of killing a neighbor who was her best friend and most worthy adversary, to Morgan Entrekin and Elisabeth Schmitz at Grove/Atlantic, for publication in Winter 2011, by Victoria Skurnick at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world).
Foreign rights to Goldmann in Germany and Orlando in Holland, in pre-empts. ahundley@groveatlantic.com
David Hilton's KINGS OF COLORADO, in which a man reflects back on his childhood when, at age 13, he stabbed his abusive father in the chest and was sentenced to two years at a boys reformatory ranch in Colorado, where corruption was the norm, and troubled boys learned to fend for themselves as they cared for and broke wild horses that were just as willful and untamed as the boys themselves, to Kerri Kolen at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (NA).
THRILLER:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the Ethan Gage historical fiction series (NAPOLEON'S PYRAMIDS, THE ROSETTA KEY, THE DAKOTA CIPHER), William Dietrich's next two novels, THE SHAMBHALA IMPERATIVE, alternating between the 1930s and the present, combining occult Nazi theories, neo-Nazis and contemporary science elements in an adventure revolving around a government conspiracy, and another novel continuing the adventures of 19th century American adventurer Ethan Gage, again to Rakesh Satyal at Harper, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (world).
NON-FICTION:
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS...
Michelle Cove's SHAKE UP THE FAIRYTALE!, a guide that helps single women deal with all stages of "singlehood" and gives them the tools they need to navigate through a changing culture and social order that is still based on "couples," while reassuring single women that happily-ever-after is a lifelong approach to nourishing their sense of well-being, to Gabrielle Moss at Tarcher, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (world English).
BIOGRAPHY:
Professor of French at Boston University Elizabeth Goldsmith's THE CARDINAL'S NIECES, on the adventures of Marie and Hortense Mancini, privileged sisters raised in the court of Louis XIV who fled their husbands and children to travel throughout Europe, gaining notoriety for their roles as gamblers, cross-dressers, mistresses to various kings, and pioneering women writers, to Lindsay Jones at Public Affairs, for publication in Fall 2011, by Erika Storella at The Gernert Company (world).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Retiring Los Angeles chief of police William J. Bratton's business book about the strategic importance of collaboration in today's networked world, co-authored by management expert Zachary Tumin, to Roger Scholl at Broadway Business, for publication in spring 2011, by Alice Martell of Alice Martell Agency.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Yale historian and author of The Dynamite Club John Merriman's THE PARIS COMMUNE OF 1871, the first account for the general reader of the dramatic uprising in which the working class of Paris took up arms against the French government, inspiring Marx, Engels and Bakunin at the time and later Trotsky, Lenin, and Mao as a model of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat,' to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a pre-empt, to Melissa Chinchillo at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Samuel Johnson Prize-winning historian Antony Beevor's one-volume history of World War II, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, for publication in 2012, by Andrew Nurnberg at Andrew Nurnberg Associates (world English).
Marie Claire editor Yael Kohen's WE KILLED: The History of Women in American Comedy, a first-ever oral history of women in American comedy, constructed from interviews with more than 50 of the nation's most prominent female comedians, recounting the trials, tribulations, and thrills of being a woman in the male-dominated comedy world from the 1950s to present, to Sarah Crichton at Sarah Crichton Books, at auction, by David Kuhn of Kuhn Projects (NA).
SCIENCE:
Science policy expert Roger Pielke, Jr.'s NO REGRETS: A Common-Sense Approach to Climate Change, an important look at how to get our response to climate change back on track after more than a decade of failure, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kris Dahl at ICM (World).
24-year-old Brown grad Brian Christian's book about artificial intelligence and communication framed as an inquiry into what makes us human, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, at auction, by Janet Silver at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Former Nation editor and regular Harper's contributor JoAnn Wypijewski's untitled book on class in America, a cross-country road trip (pitched as in the merged spirits of de Tocqueville, What's the Matter with Kansas? and On the Road) to get at the heart of the strained-and-cracking class structure that defines and divides America, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Kevin Birmingham's THE MOST DANGEROUS MASTERPIECE, an account of the writing of James Joyce's Ulysses and the subsequent fight over its publication, with appearances by Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Beach, Nora Barnacle, the obsessed censor Anthony Comstock, and the devilishly crafty Bennett Cerf, to Nick Trautwein at the Penguin Press, for publication in Fall 2012, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
Wrap...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Carrying On....
Thought it about time I say something in this space. Sure is enough going on in the world to talk about...little of it good.
No matter. Good comes first. In my case, good is breakfast on Acapulco's sidewalk patio. Arrived there this morning, LA Times and San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers in hand as always to find that Castro had already parked a thermos pot of hot coffee, a mug and an ashtray on my usual table.
Now that's what I call special. The staff at Acapulco about spoils me to death.
Anyway, I settled in, pulled the Sports pages out of both papers...I'm not interested in sports...and put them on the far side of the table for whichever manager was on duty, then settled in to begin reading the front section of the Times.
Shortly, Castro came with breakfast. Since I have exactly the same thing every morning, it's not necessary for me to order. Staff already knows what I want and how I want it. I tucked money under the menu caddy and he made change. Works like a charm.
The Health Care plan argument rages on, as does the situation between the Kurds and the Iraqis over that slice of land between them, so the US forces are gonna try and keep the peace there until there's some kind of a mutually agreed arangement between the two areas. This is good, but hope they get it settled soon so our people can come home.
Storms off the Florida coast. Have friends and family both who live down there. Hope they're well prepared in case one of those storms gets to hurricane size.
Arizona idiots are carrying weapons to places where President Obama is speaking. Serious weapons like AK-47s. Are they that unsure of their manhood that they need to flaunt weapons to show how tough they are? Just pathetic. Also dangerous as hell. "Because I can" one of them said. The NRA ought to be outlawed far as I'm concerned. This shit goes too far. Drives the Secret Service and law enforcement people nuts.
Robert Novak, newsman, has died of brain cancer. Onery as he was, he's a loss to the country. And Dan Rather...royally screwed by CBS as far as I'm concerned. I'm very glad he's not giving up the fight.
US Rep Michelle Bachmann is about as nuts as Sarah Palin. Be a cold day in hell before either of those two ever are elected president..and I don't give a damn what they think God wants them to do. They belong in asylums where their demented rants and raves won't disturb the public airways.
Wrap...
No matter. Good comes first. In my case, good is breakfast on Acapulco's sidewalk patio. Arrived there this morning, LA Times and San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers in hand as always to find that Castro had already parked a thermos pot of hot coffee, a mug and an ashtray on my usual table.
Now that's what I call special. The staff at Acapulco about spoils me to death.
Anyway, I settled in, pulled the Sports pages out of both papers...I'm not interested in sports...and put them on the far side of the table for whichever manager was on duty, then settled in to begin reading the front section of the Times.
Shortly, Castro came with breakfast. Since I have exactly the same thing every morning, it's not necessary for me to order. Staff already knows what I want and how I want it. I tucked money under the menu caddy and he made change. Works like a charm.
The Health Care plan argument rages on, as does the situation between the Kurds and the Iraqis over that slice of land between them, so the US forces are gonna try and keep the peace there until there's some kind of a mutually agreed arangement between the two areas. This is good, but hope they get it settled soon so our people can come home.
Storms off the Florida coast. Have friends and family both who live down there. Hope they're well prepared in case one of those storms gets to hurricane size.
Arizona idiots are carrying weapons to places where President Obama is speaking. Serious weapons like AK-47s. Are they that unsure of their manhood that they need to flaunt weapons to show how tough they are? Just pathetic. Also dangerous as hell. "Because I can" one of them said. The NRA ought to be outlawed far as I'm concerned. This shit goes too far. Drives the Secret Service and law enforcement people nuts.
Robert Novak, newsman, has died of brain cancer. Onery as he was, he's a loss to the country. And Dan Rather...royally screwed by CBS as far as I'm concerned. I'm very glad he's not giving up the fight.
US Rep Michelle Bachmann is about as nuts as Sarah Palin. Be a cold day in hell before either of those two ever are elected president..and I don't give a damn what they think God wants them to do. They belong in asylums where their demented rants and raves won't disturb the public airways.
Wrap...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
And Still More Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Rainbow Rowell's FLAGGED, a fresh take on the office comedy in which a shy but endearing I.T. guy whose job is to monitor the company email falls in love with a girl in his office whose emails are constantly flagged, to Erika Imranyi at Dutton, at auction, by Christopher Schelling at Ralph M. Vicinanza.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Journalist Hilary Davidson's debut THE DAMAGE DONE, about a travel writer who is called back to New York when her estranged sister is murdered, only to discover that the body belongs to a stranger who'd stolen her sister's identity, and that her sister has vanished, to Paul Stevens at Forge, in a two-book deal, for publication in October 2010, by Judith Weber at Sobel Weber Associates (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Bloodroot author Amy Greene's LONG MAN, set over fifteen days in the Tennessee Valley during the Great Depression, propelled by the search for a missing little girl, again to Robin Desser at Knopf, by Leigh Feldman at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (NA).
NON-FICTION...
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
New-media guru, founder of MarketWatch, and advisor/board member to ten major media and other companies, Larry Kramer's TALESPIN, on the current revolution in communication, the four factors that govern it, and how businesses can survive and thrive amid the changes, to Ben Loehnen at Harper Business, for publication in 2010, by Fredrica Friedman of Fredrica S. Friedman and Company.
DIET:
Host of The Biggest Loser and star of Days of Our Lives, Alison Sweeney's THE MOMMY DIET, not just a weight-loss book, but a "diet" of nutrition, fitness, and self-care that women can follow to look and feel well, before and during pregnancy, and after giving birth, to Cara Bedick at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in October 2010, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Senior foreign policy writer for the NYT editorial board, David Unger's THE EMERGENCY STATE: How to End America's Obsessive Quest for National Security and Reclaim our Democracy, a wide-ranging work of history and political economy which looks at how the foreign policy arrangements and international economic structures originally developed to fight the cold war are still in place, and have not only become obsolete but now threaten our democracy at home and our international economic position, to Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, at auction, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (NA).
Jerusalem-based historian and journalist, author of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE and THE END OF DAYS Gershom Gorenberg's THE UNMAKING OF ISRAEL, a penetrating look at Israel's current internal strife, its roots, and its sobering implications for the nation's future, to Tim Duggan at Harper, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).
HUMOR:
Syndicated radio host and TV personality Adam Carolla's THIS YEAR IN RAGE, a collection of funny, insightful, and outrageous anecdotes, philosophies, and rants by America's foremost complainer, spanning sports (steroids in baseball, etc.), the economy, bloggers, dining out, religion, politics, movies, social networking sites, dating, flying/homeland security, and sex, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, for publication in Fall 2010, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group and manager, James Dixon of Dixon Talent (NA).
MEMOIR:
Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (named for her sister), the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, and former US ambassador to Hungary Nancy Brinker's story of two sisters, Nancy and Suzy, their loving bond from childhood through adulthood, the cancer that took one sister's life and threatened the other's, and the passionate promise made that has gone on to transform, and save, the lives of million of women and to raise billions of dollars for cancer research and community outreach, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, for publication in October 2010, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor (world English).
Gunter Grass's FROM GERMANY TO GERMANY AND BACK AGAIN, the diary he kept in 1990, as the Berlin Wall fell and Germany changed forever, to Drenka Willen at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Steidl Verlag (NA).
lori.glazer@hmhpub.com
NARRATIVE:
Bio-acoustician and pioneering musician Bernie Krause's THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA: Searching for the Voice of Nature and the Origins of Music, a narrative journey into the author's visionary theories about animal sounds, their orchestral-like relationship to one another, their influence on our own music, their vital importance to our ecological and emotional health, the dramatic losses they've endured due to encroaching human noise, and the damage that is occurring as they go extinct, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, at auction, by Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency (world).
Wrap...
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Rainbow Rowell's FLAGGED, a fresh take on the office comedy in which a shy but endearing I.T. guy whose job is to monitor the company email falls in love with a girl in his office whose emails are constantly flagged, to Erika Imranyi at Dutton, at auction, by Christopher Schelling at Ralph M. Vicinanza.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Journalist Hilary Davidson's debut THE DAMAGE DONE, about a travel writer who is called back to New York when her estranged sister is murdered, only to discover that the body belongs to a stranger who'd stolen her sister's identity, and that her sister has vanished, to Paul Stevens at Forge, in a two-book deal, for publication in October 2010, by Judith Weber at Sobel Weber Associates (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Bloodroot author Amy Greene's LONG MAN, set over fifteen days in the Tennessee Valley during the Great Depression, propelled by the search for a missing little girl, again to Robin Desser at Knopf, by Leigh Feldman at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (NA).
NON-FICTION...
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
New-media guru, founder of MarketWatch, and advisor/board member to ten major media and other companies, Larry Kramer's TALESPIN, on the current revolution in communication, the four factors that govern it, and how businesses can survive and thrive amid the changes, to Ben Loehnen at Harper Business, for publication in 2010, by Fredrica Friedman of Fredrica S. Friedman and Company.
DIET:
Host of The Biggest Loser and star of Days of Our Lives, Alison Sweeney's THE MOMMY DIET, not just a weight-loss book, but a "diet" of nutrition, fitness, and self-care that women can follow to look and feel well, before and during pregnancy, and after giving birth, to Cara Bedick at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in October 2010, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Senior foreign policy writer for the NYT editorial board, David Unger's THE EMERGENCY STATE: How to End America's Obsessive Quest for National Security and Reclaim our Democracy, a wide-ranging work of history and political economy which looks at how the foreign policy arrangements and international economic structures originally developed to fight the cold war are still in place, and have not only become obsolete but now threaten our democracy at home and our international economic position, to Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, at auction, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (NA).
Jerusalem-based historian and journalist, author of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE and THE END OF DAYS Gershom Gorenberg's THE UNMAKING OF ISRAEL, a penetrating look at Israel's current internal strife, its roots, and its sobering implications for the nation's future, to Tim Duggan at Harper, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).
HUMOR:
Syndicated radio host and TV personality Adam Carolla's THIS YEAR IN RAGE, a collection of funny, insightful, and outrageous anecdotes, philosophies, and rants by America's foremost complainer, spanning sports (steroids in baseball, etc.), the economy, bloggers, dining out, religion, politics, movies, social networking sites, dating, flying/homeland security, and sex, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, for publication in Fall 2010, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group and manager, James Dixon of Dixon Talent (NA).
MEMOIR:
Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (named for her sister), the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, and former US ambassador to Hungary Nancy Brinker's story of two sisters, Nancy and Suzy, their loving bond from childhood through adulthood, the cancer that took one sister's life and threatened the other's, and the passionate promise made that has gone on to transform, and save, the lives of million of women and to raise billions of dollars for cancer research and community outreach, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, for publication in October 2010, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor (world English).
Gunter Grass's FROM GERMANY TO GERMANY AND BACK AGAIN, the diary he kept in 1990, as the Berlin Wall fell and Germany changed forever, to Drenka Willen at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Steidl Verlag (NA).
lori.glazer@hmhpub.com
NARRATIVE:
Bio-acoustician and pioneering musician Bernie Krause's THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA: Searching for the Voice of Nature and the Origins of Music, a narrative journey into the author's visionary theories about animal sounds, their orchestral-like relationship to one another, their influence on our own music, their vital importance to our ecological and emotional health, the dramatic losses they've endured due to encroaching human noise, and the damage that is occurring as they go extinct, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, at auction, by Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency (world).
Wrap...
Saturday, August 08, 2009
A Selection of Interesting Books....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Some Deals
As usual, here are about 20 deals from last week's report of about 140 deals in all. We have added another 70 new ones again at our site since Monday. To see the complete deal flow (including entire categories generally omitted from this version) and get a complete deal round-up every week (with more pricing information) instead, sign up now for our full service.
Click to register
https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
The Key
As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together.
"nice deal" $1 - $49,000
"very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
"good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
"significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
"major deal" $500,000 and up
Deal Reports
Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace.com if you aren't using the online form linked below.
Report a deal using the online form
FICTION
Debut
Robin Becker's BRAINS: a zombie memoir, the first-person account of a college professor-turned-zombie who retains his sentience and recruits others like him on a heroic quest to fend off the living while searching for the meaning of un-life, to Gabe Robinson at Harper, in a nice deal, for publication in Summer 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (NA).
Ann Garvin's ON MAGGIE'S WATCH, about the deep friendship between best friends, the pressure that loss puts on a marriage, and our deeply human desire to control - no matter how absurd and impossible - everything in our lives to make the world as safe as possible for ourselves and our children, to Jackie Cantor at Berkley, for publication in November 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (World).
Kristen Wolf's THE WAY, a cinematic and fantastical re-imagining of the world's greatest spiritual figure, pitched as THE MISTS OF AVALON meets POPE JOAN, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, by Susan Golomb at the Susan Golomb Agency (NA).
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
Mystery/Crime
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
General/Other
Jennie Fields's THE AGE OF ARDOR, inspired by the facts of Edith Wharton's life -- a miserable marriage and difficult love affair -- the novel introduces Anna Bahlmann, Edith's lifelong conscience and confessor, her former governess turned literary secretary and first critic who previewed every word she penned, in a portrait of two vastly different women responding to changing mores, whose relationship was sorely tested when Edith threw caution to the wind in pursuit of the wrong man despite Anna's opposition, and whose friendship, even so, was able to flourish, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books, in a pre-empt, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (World).
Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY, based on the real-life journey of an Indian elephant from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century, translated again by Margaret Jull Costa, to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in fall 2010.
NON-FICTION...
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Historian David Fromkin's NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM, showing how tensions between Britain and the Nazis over the Middle East prior to and during World War II set the course for that area's political history, moving back to Andrew Miller at Knopf, at auction, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
MEMOIR:
Leigh Newman's A SAFE PLACE IN THE WILDERNESS, about the author's life spent growing up in (and moving between) two vastly different American terrains and cultures -- East (blue blood Maryland with her mother) and West (rugged and wild Alaska with her father), and how she built a life across seemingly impossible divides, to Jennifer Smith at Dial, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Emilie Stewart at Emilie Stewart Literary Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
GQ staff writer Alex Pappademas's HERE COMES TOMORROW, featuring essays and insights into how comics, superheroes, science fiction, and other "nerdy" entertainment has become a dominant force in pop culture, to Zack Wagman at Vintage, from Farley Chase at the Waxman Literary Agency (NA).
REFERENCE:
Daniel Mendelsohn, international bestselling and award-winning author of The Lost: A Author of The Lost: Search for Six of Six Million, Daniel Mendelsohn's ODYSSEYS, a literal and figurative voyage in search of the meanings of the greatest of the Classics, from Homer to Aristophanes and beyond, moving to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, with Sarah Hochman editing, for publication in 2012, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world English).
SPORTS:
Sister Madonna Buder and Karin Evans's IRON SPIRIT: The Wisdom and Inspiration of Sister Madonna Buder, World Champion Triathlete, about the 79-year-old nun and Ironman competitor known on the circuit as the Iron Nun, to Marysue Rucci at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary.
Wrap...
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Some Deals
As usual, here are about 20 deals from last week's report of about 140 deals in all. We have added another 70 new ones again at our site since Monday. To see the complete deal flow (including entire categories generally omitted from this version) and get a complete deal round-up every week (with more pricing information) instead, sign up now for our full service.
Click to register
https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
The Key
As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together.
"nice deal" $1 - $49,000
"very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
"good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
"significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
"major deal" $500,000 and up
Deal Reports
Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace.com if you aren't using the online form linked below.
Report a deal using the online form
FICTION
Debut
Robin Becker's BRAINS: a zombie memoir, the first-person account of a college professor-turned-zombie who retains his sentience and recruits others like him on a heroic quest to fend off the living while searching for the meaning of un-life, to Gabe Robinson at Harper, in a nice deal, for publication in Summer 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (NA).
Ann Garvin's ON MAGGIE'S WATCH, about the deep friendship between best friends, the pressure that loss puts on a marriage, and our deeply human desire to control - no matter how absurd and impossible - everything in our lives to make the world as safe as possible for ourselves and our children, to Jackie Cantor at Berkley, for publication in November 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (World).
Kristen Wolf's THE WAY, a cinematic and fantastical re-imagining of the world's greatest spiritual figure, pitched as THE MISTS OF AVALON meets POPE JOAN, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, by Susan Golomb at the Susan Golomb Agency (NA).
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
Mystery/Crime
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
General/Other
Jennie Fields's THE AGE OF ARDOR, inspired by the facts of Edith Wharton's life -- a miserable marriage and difficult love affair -- the novel introduces Anna Bahlmann, Edith's lifelong conscience and confessor, her former governess turned literary secretary and first critic who previewed every word she penned, in a portrait of two vastly different women responding to changing mores, whose relationship was sorely tested when Edith threw caution to the wind in pursuit of the wrong man despite Anna's opposition, and whose friendship, even so, was able to flourish, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books, in a pre-empt, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (World).
Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY, based on the real-life journey of an Indian elephant from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century, translated again by Margaret Jull Costa, to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in fall 2010.
NON-FICTION...
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Historian David Fromkin's NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM, showing how tensions between Britain and the Nazis over the Middle East prior to and during World War II set the course for that area's political history, moving back to Andrew Miller at Knopf, at auction, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
MEMOIR:
Leigh Newman's A SAFE PLACE IN THE WILDERNESS, about the author's life spent growing up in (and moving between) two vastly different American terrains and cultures -- East (blue blood Maryland with her mother) and West (rugged and wild Alaska with her father), and how she built a life across seemingly impossible divides, to Jennifer Smith at Dial, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Emilie Stewart at Emilie Stewart Literary Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
GQ staff writer Alex Pappademas's HERE COMES TOMORROW, featuring essays and insights into how comics, superheroes, science fiction, and other "nerdy" entertainment has become a dominant force in pop culture, to Zack Wagman at Vintage, from Farley Chase at the Waxman Literary Agency (NA).
REFERENCE:
Daniel Mendelsohn, international bestselling and award-winning author of The Lost: A Author of The Lost: Search for Six of Six Million, Daniel Mendelsohn's ODYSSEYS, a literal and figurative voyage in search of the meanings of the greatest of the Classics, from Homer to Aristophanes and beyond, moving to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, with Sarah Hochman editing, for publication in 2012, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world English).
SPORTS:
Sister Madonna Buder and Karin Evans's IRON SPIRIT: The Wisdom and Inspiration of Sister Madonna Buder, World Champion Triathlete, about the 79-year-old nun and Ironman competitor known on the circuit as the Iron Nun, to Marysue Rucci at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary.
Wrap...
Friday, August 07, 2009
An R.N. For Reform....
From R.N. For Reform...
So far, most politicians, constituents and the public in general agree on one fact: healthcare is a right, not a choice.
Given that definition, and given that we are trying to effect reform, why do most proposals seem bent on leaving insurance coverage tied to the workplace?
Why not strip coverage from being a workplace responsibility and/or availability and provide coverage on a per citizen basis, not on a per worker basis? If we're thinking streamlining, why not go all the way?
Wrap...
So far, most politicians, constituents and the public in general agree on one fact: healthcare is a right, not a choice.
Given that definition, and given that we are trying to effect reform, why do most proposals seem bent on leaving insurance coverage tied to the workplace?
Why not strip coverage from being a workplace responsibility and/or availability and provide coverage on a per citizen basis, not on a per worker basis? If we're thinking streamlining, why not go all the way?
Wrap...
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Latest Selection of Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly....
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Chris Greenhalgh's COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY, a first novel and movie tie-in based on the secret affair between Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky in Paris, 1920, at the time when Coco was developing Chanel No. 5, to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2009, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (NA).
Grant Jerkin's AN AMERICAN CRIME, telling the story of an emotionally disturbed wife, a husband who would kill to escape his torturous marriage, and a son who can't defend himself from the accusation of murder, to Natalee Rosenstein at Berkley, by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic (world English).
Film rights optioned to Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune) with Oscar-nominated director Barbet Schroeder (also Reversal of Fortune) attached to direct.
GENERAL/OTHER...
HALLUCINATING FOUCAULT author Patricia Duncker's THE STRANGE CASE OF THE COMPOSER AND HIS JUDGE, to Kathy Belden at Bloomsbury, in a nice deal, for publication in March 2010, by Andrew Gordon at David Higham Associates (NA).
President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States Wayne Pacelle's THE BOND, an exploration of the special relationship between animals and humans, to Peter Hubbard at William Morrow, by Gail Ross at the Gail Ross Literary Agency.
Winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction Philip Hoare's THE WHALE, a lively travelogue through the history, literature, and lore of the largest, loudest, oldest animal ever to have lived: the whale, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, for publication in February 2010, by Anna Stein at Aitken Alexander, on behalf of Gillon Aitken at Aitken Alexander (NA).
NON-FICTION:
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS...
Today Show and Access Hollywood correspondent Maria Menounos' THE EVERYGIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE, a collection of practical tips that every girl can apply toward achieving a more prosperous and healthy appearance as well as enriching her life, to Lisa Sharkey at Harper, in a very nice deal, by Frank Weimann of The Literary Group.
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
Former White House director of economic policy, economist and NPR commentator Todd Buchholz's RUSH, looking at new science that reveals an important and counterintuitive finding - that happiness is not achieved by taking a prolonged vacation but by fully engaging in challenging situations - with others or even with oneself, to Caroline Sutton at Hudson Street Press, by Susan Ginsburg at Writers House (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
ADOPTED SON author David Clary's FIRST IN WAR: The Military Adventures of Young George Washington, the neglected story of his early years as a colonial army officer from 1753 to 1758, a career that shook the world (his command fired the first shots of the French and Indian War) and shaped the impetuous and immature Washington into the confident general who would lead the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, to Roger Labrie at Simon & Schuster, by Jim Donovan at Jim Donovan Literary (world).
HOW-TO...
Hollywood Gardener to the stars Marta Teegen's FRONT YARD FARM, teaching her French bio-intensive technique for growing lush, beautiful vegetable patches in even the smallest of gardens, to Karen Bolesta at Rodale, for publication in Fall 2010, by Caroline Greeven at The Agency Group.
MEMOIR...
Kay Bratt's SILENT TEARS: A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage, A story of adversity, triumph and loss during the author's time spent working as a volunteer in a Chinese orphanage in a heart breaking and uplifting tale of her battle against institutional bureaucracy to help the orphaned children of the Chinese community she lived in for five years, to Terry Goodman at Amazon Encore, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (world).
Martin Kihn's BAD DOG: A Love Story, the story of an out-of-control Bernese mountain dog named Hola who dragged the author and his wife through ten steps of obedience certification program, which provided touchstones for the author's own recovery from alcoholism (showing "you can't properly train your dog until you learn to train yourself"), to Marty Asher at Pantheon, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House
Joanne Herring's THE WOMAN BEHIND CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR: The Extraordinary True Story of the Real Joanne Herring and how Brains, Beauty, Faith and Cleavage Confronted Communism and Changed the World, from the woman known as the Houston socialite portrayed by Julia Roberts in the film Charlie Wilson's War, telling her full story -- with all its God, guns, and Gucci glory -- in this colorful memoir pitched as equal parts Gone With the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Devil Wears Prada, with a dash of Cinderella, to Christina Boys at Center Street, for publication in Spring 2011, by Lacy Lynch at Dupree Miller & Associates (world).
NARRATIVE...
Craig Childs's FIELD GUIDE TO THE END OF THE WORLD, a narrative exploration of the pivotal forces that comprise the "end of the world," not as a singular end point but as a cyclical process that is happening right now, which can be seen in fossils, geologic layers, deep ice cores, sea floor sediments, the ruins of human endeavors, and even the barren surface of Mars, to Dan Frank at Pantheon, at auction, for publication in 2012, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (NA).
GRAPHIC NOVEL...
Award-winning cartoonist, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and New Yorker illustrator Daniel Clowes's WILSON, his first original graphic novel, to Chris Oliveros at Drawn & Quarterly, for publication in May 2010 (world).
Jeff Smith's BONE: Tall Tales, for publication in Summer 2010, co-written by Tom Sniegoski, plus the BONE: Quest for the Spark Trilogy, overseen and illustrated by Smith and written by Sniegoski, for publication beginning in Fall 2010, again to David Saylor for Graphix, by Vijaya Iyer for Cartoon Books/Jeff Smith.
Wrap...
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Chris Greenhalgh's COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY, a first novel and movie tie-in based on the secret affair between Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky in Paris, 1920, at the time when Coco was developing Chanel No. 5, to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2009, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (NA).
Grant Jerkin's AN AMERICAN CRIME, telling the story of an emotionally disturbed wife, a husband who would kill to escape his torturous marriage, and a son who can't defend himself from the accusation of murder, to Natalee Rosenstein at Berkley, by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic (world English).
Film rights optioned to Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune) with Oscar-nominated director Barbet Schroeder (also Reversal of Fortune) attached to direct.
GENERAL/OTHER...
HALLUCINATING FOUCAULT author Patricia Duncker's THE STRANGE CASE OF THE COMPOSER AND HIS JUDGE, to Kathy Belden at Bloomsbury, in a nice deal, for publication in March 2010, by Andrew Gordon at David Higham Associates (NA).
President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States Wayne Pacelle's THE BOND, an exploration of the special relationship between animals and humans, to Peter Hubbard at William Morrow, by Gail Ross at the Gail Ross Literary Agency.
Winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction Philip Hoare's THE WHALE, a lively travelogue through the history, literature, and lore of the largest, loudest, oldest animal ever to have lived: the whale, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, for publication in February 2010, by Anna Stein at Aitken Alexander, on behalf of Gillon Aitken at Aitken Alexander (NA).
NON-FICTION:
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS...
Today Show and Access Hollywood correspondent Maria Menounos' THE EVERYGIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE, a collection of practical tips that every girl can apply toward achieving a more prosperous and healthy appearance as well as enriching her life, to Lisa Sharkey at Harper, in a very nice deal, by Frank Weimann of The Literary Group.
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
Former White House director of economic policy, economist and NPR commentator Todd Buchholz's RUSH, looking at new science that reveals an important and counterintuitive finding - that happiness is not achieved by taking a prolonged vacation but by fully engaging in challenging situations - with others or even with oneself, to Caroline Sutton at Hudson Street Press, by Susan Ginsburg at Writers House (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
ADOPTED SON author David Clary's FIRST IN WAR: The Military Adventures of Young George Washington, the neglected story of his early years as a colonial army officer from 1753 to 1758, a career that shook the world (his command fired the first shots of the French and Indian War) and shaped the impetuous and immature Washington into the confident general who would lead the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, to Roger Labrie at Simon & Schuster, by Jim Donovan at Jim Donovan Literary (world).
HOW-TO...
Hollywood Gardener to the stars Marta Teegen's FRONT YARD FARM, teaching her French bio-intensive technique for growing lush, beautiful vegetable patches in even the smallest of gardens, to Karen Bolesta at Rodale, for publication in Fall 2010, by Caroline Greeven at The Agency Group.
MEMOIR...
Kay Bratt's SILENT TEARS: A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage, A story of adversity, triumph and loss during the author's time spent working as a volunteer in a Chinese orphanage in a heart breaking and uplifting tale of her battle against institutional bureaucracy to help the orphaned children of the Chinese community she lived in for five years, to Terry Goodman at Amazon Encore, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (world).
Martin Kihn's BAD DOG: A Love Story, the story of an out-of-control Bernese mountain dog named Hola who dragged the author and his wife through ten steps of obedience certification program, which provided touchstones for the author's own recovery from alcoholism (showing "you can't properly train your dog until you learn to train yourself"), to Marty Asher at Pantheon, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House
Joanne Herring's THE WOMAN BEHIND CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR: The Extraordinary True Story of the Real Joanne Herring and how Brains, Beauty, Faith and Cleavage Confronted Communism and Changed the World, from the woman known as the Houston socialite portrayed by Julia Roberts in the film Charlie Wilson's War, telling her full story -- with all its God, guns, and Gucci glory -- in this colorful memoir pitched as equal parts Gone With the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Devil Wears Prada, with a dash of Cinderella, to Christina Boys at Center Street, for publication in Spring 2011, by Lacy Lynch at Dupree Miller & Associates (world).
NARRATIVE...
Craig Childs's FIELD GUIDE TO THE END OF THE WORLD, a narrative exploration of the pivotal forces that comprise the "end of the world," not as a singular end point but as a cyclical process that is happening right now, which can be seen in fossils, geologic layers, deep ice cores, sea floor sediments, the ruins of human endeavors, and even the barren surface of Mars, to Dan Frank at Pantheon, at auction, for publication in 2012, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (NA).
GRAPHIC NOVEL...
Award-winning cartoonist, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and New Yorker illustrator Daniel Clowes's WILSON, his first original graphic novel, to Chris Oliveros at Drawn & Quarterly, for publication in May 2010 (world).
Jeff Smith's BONE: Tall Tales, for publication in Summer 2010, co-written by Tom Sniegoski, plus the BONE: Quest for the Spark Trilogy, overseen and illustrated by Smith and written by Sniegoski, for publication beginning in Fall 2010, again to David Saylor for Graphix, by Vijaya Iyer for Cartoon Books/Jeff Smith.
Wrap...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Now at home...No Problem Killing...
From truthout.org ....
Casualties of War, Part II: Warning Signs
Monday 27 July 2009
by: Dave Philipps | Visit article original @ The Colorado Springs Gazette
In the back of an armored vehicle at a base in Baquba, Iraq, a soldier leans his head on his rifle. It sometimes proves difficult for soldiers to leave behind the violent mindset of war upon returning home. (Photo: Getty Images)
After coming home from Iraq, 21-year-old medic Bruce Bastien was driving with his Army buddy Louis Bressler, 24, when they spotted a woman walking to work on a Colorado Springs street.
Bressler swerved and hit the woman with the car, according to police, then Bastien jumped out and stabbed her over and over.
It was October 2007. A fellow soldier, Kenneth Eastridge, 24, watched it all from the passenger seat.
At that moment, he said, it was clear that however messed up some of the soldiers in the unit had been after their first Iraq deployment, it was about to get much worse.
Also see:
Casualties of War, Part I: The Hell of War Comes Home •
"I have no problem with killing," said Eastridge, a two-tour infantryman with almost 80 confirmed kills. "But I won't just murder someone for no reason. He had gone crazy."
http://www.truthout.org/072809C?n
[Use link above to continue reading}
Wrap...
Casualties of War, Part II: Warning Signs
Monday 27 July 2009
by: Dave Philipps | Visit article original @ The Colorado Springs Gazette
In the back of an armored vehicle at a base in Baquba, Iraq, a soldier leans his head on his rifle. It sometimes proves difficult for soldiers to leave behind the violent mindset of war upon returning home. (Photo: Getty Images)
After coming home from Iraq, 21-year-old medic Bruce Bastien was driving with his Army buddy Louis Bressler, 24, when they spotted a woman walking to work on a Colorado Springs street.
Bressler swerved and hit the woman with the car, according to police, then Bastien jumped out and stabbed her over and over.
It was October 2007. A fellow soldier, Kenneth Eastridge, 24, watched it all from the passenger seat.
At that moment, he said, it was clear that however messed up some of the soldiers in the unit had been after their first Iraq deployment, it was about to get much worse.
Also see:
Casualties of War, Part I: The Hell of War Comes Home •
"I have no problem with killing," said Eastridge, a two-tour infantryman with almost 80 confirmed kills. "But I won't just murder someone for no reason. He had gone crazy."
http://www.truthout.org/072809C?n
[Use link above to continue reading}
Wrap...
Monday, July 27, 2009
Classify or not..That is the question...
From Secrecy News....
ISCAP DIRECTS NSA TO RELEASE COMINT HISTORY
In 2005, the National Security Agency released a partially declassified (pdf) 1952 history of communications intelligence prior to Pearl Harbor with several passages censored. But this month, the NSA released the complete text (pdf) of the document after the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) determined that there was no justification for continued classification of the withheld portions.
During World War II, "Collaboration with the BRITISH COMINT organization got off to a bad start so far as the Navy was concerned...," according to one newly declassified paragraph from the official history. "For several months U.S. Navy COMINT personnel thought they had been double-crossed by the British and were reluctant to go ahead with collaboration in direction finding and other matters which were greatly to England's advantage throughout 1941." Subsequent cooperation, however, proved "harmonious." Now it can be told.
The NSA document was released in response to a mandatory declassification review request, followed by an appeal to ISCAP, submitted by researcher Michael Ravnitzky. See "A Brief History of Communications Intelligence in the United States" by Captain Lawrence Safford, USN, 21-27 March 1952.
The new disclosure illustrates once again the efficacy of the ISCAP in overcoming the reflexive secrecy of executive branch agencies, including those that are represented on the ISCAP itself. More often than not, the ISCAP has released information that one of its own member agencies said must remain classified.
Fundamentally, the ISCAP's experience over the past decade or so demonstrates the importance of extending declassification authority beyond the original classifying agency. Left to their own devices, agencies will adhere to past classification practices indefinitely. But when such practices are critically examined by others, including others within the executive branch, they often wither before the scrutiny.
If there is a solution to "the problem of overclassification," as requested by President Obama in a May 27, 2009 memorandum, it is bound to involve this kind of independent, external review of agency classification and declassification practices.
Wrap...
ISCAP DIRECTS NSA TO RELEASE COMINT HISTORY
In 2005, the National Security Agency released a partially declassified (pdf) 1952 history of communications intelligence prior to Pearl Harbor with several passages censored. But this month, the NSA released the complete text (pdf) of the document after the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) determined that there was no justification for continued classification of the withheld portions.
During World War II, "Collaboration with the BRITISH COMINT organization got off to a bad start so far as the Navy was concerned...," according to one newly declassified paragraph from the official history. "For several months U.S. Navy COMINT personnel thought they had been double-crossed by the British and were reluctant to go ahead with collaboration in direction finding and other matters which were greatly to England's advantage throughout 1941." Subsequent cooperation, however, proved "harmonious." Now it can be told.
The NSA document was released in response to a mandatory declassification review request, followed by an appeal to ISCAP, submitted by researcher Michael Ravnitzky. See "A Brief History of Communications Intelligence in the United States" by Captain Lawrence Safford, USN, 21-27 March 1952.
The new disclosure illustrates once again the efficacy of the ISCAP in overcoming the reflexive secrecy of executive branch agencies, including those that are represented on the ISCAP itself. More often than not, the ISCAP has released information that one of its own member agencies said must remain classified.
Fundamentally, the ISCAP's experience over the past decade or so demonstrates the importance of extending declassification authority beyond the original classifying agency. Left to their own devices, agencies will adhere to past classification practices indefinitely. But when such practices are critically examined by others, including others within the executive branch, they often wither before the scrutiny.
If there is a solution to "the problem of overclassification," as requested by President Obama in a May 27, 2009 memorandum, it is bound to involve this kind of independent, external review of agency classification and declassification practices.
Wrap...
Monday, July 20, 2009
"Secret Laws" are bad news for us....
From Secrecy News:
COURT REBUKES GOVERNMENT OVER "SECRET LAW"
"Government must operate through public laws and regulations" and not through "secret law," a federal appellate court declared in a decision last month. When our government attempts to do otherwise, the court said, it is emulating "totalitarian regimes."
The new ruling (pdf) overturned the conviction of a defendant who had been found guilty of exporting rifle scopes in violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The court said that the government had failed to properly identify which items are subject to export control regulations, or to justify the criteria for controlling them. It said the defendant could not be held responsible for violating such vague regulations.
Accepting the State Department's claim of "authority to classify any item as a 'defense article' [thereby making it subject to export controls], without revealing the basis of the decision and without allowing any inquiry by the jury, would create serious constitutional problems," wrote Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. "It would allow the sort of secret law that [the Supreme Court in] Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan, 293 U.S. 388 (1935), condemned."
Normally, "A regulation is published for all to see," explained Judge Easterbrook, a Reagan appointee who is considered a judicial conservative. "People can adjust their conduct to avoid liability. [In contrast,] a designation by an unnamed official, using unspecified criteria, that is put in a desk drawer, taken out only for use at a criminal trial, and immune from any evaluation by the judiciary, is the sort of tactic usually associated with totalitarian regimes," he said. See the Court's ruling in United States of America v. Doli Syarief Pulungan, June 15, 2009.
The new ruling "could be a very big deal in terms of export controls, and indeed in terms of 'secret law' in general," said Gerald Epstein, a science and security policy scholar who served on a recent National Academy of Sciences panel on export control policy. "This case goes to the heart of the ambiguity of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which give the State Department great latitude in determining what is and what is not covered, and which are administered in a notoriously opaque way," Dr. Epstein told Secrecy News.
Export control policy was addressed from various perspectives in an April 24, 2008 Senate hearing entitled "Beyond Control: Reforming Export Licensing Agencies for National Security and Economic Interests" (pdf) that was published last month.
Last year, Sen. Russ Feingold convened a hearing on the subject of "Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government." My prepared statement from that hearing on the diverse categories of secret law is available here (pdf).
Wrap...
COURT REBUKES GOVERNMENT OVER "SECRET LAW"
"Government must operate through public laws and regulations" and not through "secret law," a federal appellate court declared in a decision last month. When our government attempts to do otherwise, the court said, it is emulating "totalitarian regimes."
The new ruling (pdf) overturned the conviction of a defendant who had been found guilty of exporting rifle scopes in violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The court said that the government had failed to properly identify which items are subject to export control regulations, or to justify the criteria for controlling them. It said the defendant could not be held responsible for violating such vague regulations.
Accepting the State Department's claim of "authority to classify any item as a 'defense article' [thereby making it subject to export controls], without revealing the basis of the decision and without allowing any inquiry by the jury, would create serious constitutional problems," wrote Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. "It would allow the sort of secret law that [the Supreme Court in] Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan, 293 U.S. 388 (1935), condemned."
Normally, "A regulation is published for all to see," explained Judge Easterbrook, a Reagan appointee who is considered a judicial conservative. "People can adjust their conduct to avoid liability. [In contrast,] a designation by an unnamed official, using unspecified criteria, that is put in a desk drawer, taken out only for use at a criminal trial, and immune from any evaluation by the judiciary, is the sort of tactic usually associated with totalitarian regimes," he said. See the Court's ruling in United States of America v. Doli Syarief Pulungan, June 15, 2009.
The new ruling "could be a very big deal in terms of export controls, and indeed in terms of 'secret law' in general," said Gerald Epstein, a science and security policy scholar who served on a recent National Academy of Sciences panel on export control policy. "This case goes to the heart of the ambiguity of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which give the State Department great latitude in determining what is and what is not covered, and which are administered in a notoriously opaque way," Dr. Epstein told Secrecy News.
Export control policy was addressed from various perspectives in an April 24, 2008 Senate hearing entitled "Beyond Control: Reforming Export Licensing Agencies for National Security and Economic Interests" (pdf) that was published last month.
Last year, Sen. Russ Feingold convened a hearing on the subject of "Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government." My prepared statement from that hearing on the diverse categories of secret law is available here (pdf).
Wrap...
Comic Con on the job...on the beach?....
From Voice of San Diego:
It will be a challenge getting around downtown for anyone in a car in coming days as Comic-Con hits the Convention Center. Some may think that it's just a coincidence that large, disturbing-looking killer squid have descended on San Diego's shores shortly before the convention. The rest of us know better.
Do we really have such little faith in Aquaman that we have to worry he doesn't already have this under control?
Wrap...
It will be a challenge getting around downtown for anyone in a car in coming days as Comic-Con hits the Convention Center. Some may think that it's just a coincidence that large, disturbing-looking killer squid have descended on San Diego's shores shortly before the convention. The rest of us know better.
Do we really have such little faith in Aquaman that we have to worry he doesn't already have this under control?
Wrap...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Comic Con is almost underway in San Diego....
Comic Con is being set up right now at the San Diego Convention Center. Lemme tell you those people are nothing but working hard. The VIP advance look is Thursday...and Friday morning, Comic Con rolls.
Here's where you go to find out about the past, present and this weekend's blast!!!
www.comiccon.uniontrib.com
Wrap...
Here's where you go to find out about the past, present and this weekend's blast!!!
www.comiccon.uniontrib.com
Wrap...
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Most Trusted Man In America....
From New York Times:
Walter Cronkite, Iconic Anchor, Is Dead
Defined Role of Television Newscaster
By DOUGLAS MARTIN 6 minutes ago
Mr. Cronkite pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America.
Wrap...
Walter Cronkite, Iconic Anchor, Is Dead
Defined Role of Television Newscaster
By DOUGLAS MARTIN 6 minutes ago
Mr. Cronkite pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America.
Wrap...
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Smoke 'em if you got 'em...in Combat...
From NBC San Diego 7 News Update....
Military's Proposed Ban on Tobacco Goes up in Smoke
Smoke 'em if you got 'em. The Pentagon reassured troops Wednesday that it won't ban tobacco products in war zones.
MORE
http://click1.nbclocal.com/xdcrmmmwc_kwjvlqlrwr.html
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Military's Proposed Ban on Tobacco Goes up in Smoke
Smoke 'em if you got 'em. The Pentagon reassured troops Wednesday that it won't ban tobacco products in war zones.
MORE
http://click1.nbclocal.com/xdcrmmmwc_kwjvlqlrwr.html
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Al Qaida not happy about spies...too bad...
From Secrecy News...
AL QAIDA: WESTERN SPIES MULTIPLY "LIKE LOCUSTS"
From the point of view of an al Qaida military leader, Western intelligence agents are now ubiquitous in the lands of Islam, and their operations have been extraordinarily effective. The Western spies are unfailingly lethal, leaving a trail of dead Islamist fighters behind them. Worst of all, they have managed to recruit innumerable Muslims to assist their war efforts.
"The spies... were sent to penetrate the ranks of the Muslims generally, and the mujahidin specifically, and [they] spread all over the lands like locusts," wrote Abu Yahya al-Libi, an al Qaida field commander in Afghanistan, in a new book called "Guidance on the Ruling of the Muslim Spy" (pdf).
"The spies are busy day and night carrying out their duties in an organized and secret manner... How many heroic leaders have been kidnapped at their hands? How many major mujahidin were surprised to be imprisoned or traced? Even the military and financial supply roads of the mujahidin, which are far from the enemy's surveillance, were found by the spies."
Al Qaida operations have been severely impeded by the intelligence war against them, al-Libi said. "As soon as the mujahidin get secretly into an area on a dark night, they are confronted by the Cross forces and their helpers. Many are killed or captured."
Western spies are found under every conceivable cover, al-Libi wrote. "They have among them old hunchbacked men who cannot even walk, strong young men, weak women inside their house, young girls, and even children who did not reach puberty yet. The spy might be a doctor, nurse, engineer, student, preacher, scholar, runner, or a taxi driver. The spy can be anyone...."
"The occupation armies completely rely on recruiting spies and informants from the Muslim lands they usurped and conquered... The spy lives among Muslims, being one of them: living their life, wearing their dress, eating what they eat... Therefore, he can access what the armed soldiers of the occupation cannot put hands on."
In the new book, published in Arabic (pdf) on jihadist websites on June 30, al-Libi ruminated at length on the religious and legal problem of the Muslim spy. Can there be a Muslim who spies against other Muslims or, since such a person would by definition be an apostate, is a Muslim spy a contradiction in terms? May such a person be killed? (It depends.) To convict a spy nowadays is it necessary to rely on the traditional two witnesses? (Again, it depends.) What about a person who is mistakenly executed as a spy? (God will reward him.)
Pervading the book is a sense of the overwhelming impact of U.S. and Allied intelligence operations on jihadist forces, and the willingness of indigenous Muslims to act with Western intelligence against those forces.
"Everyone who lives in the jihad battlegrounds... knows well that the occupation forces could not do one-tenth of what they do now if they did not recruit spies and informants.... Most of the mujahidin and their soldiers were killed or captured because of the intelligence information that the infidel forces have obtained from the secret soldiers whom they recruit, like swarms of locusts, from the native citizens who talk our language and pretend they are Muslims."
"Guidance on the Ruling of the Muslim Spy" by Abu Yahya al-Libi was translated, rather clumsily, by the DNI Open Source Center. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News.
The book cited the use of electronic homing devices to guide air-launched missiles to their targets and images of several such devices were included in the original Arabic version of the book (at page 146). The purported use of the devices was discussed in "CIA Drone Targeting Tech Revealed, Qaeda Claims" by Adam Rawnsley, Wired Danger Room, July 8, 2009. Memri.org also prepared a proprietary translation of the new Al-Libi book, which was reported by Fox News last week.
Wrap...
AL QAIDA: WESTERN SPIES MULTIPLY "LIKE LOCUSTS"
From the point of view of an al Qaida military leader, Western intelligence agents are now ubiquitous in the lands of Islam, and their operations have been extraordinarily effective. The Western spies are unfailingly lethal, leaving a trail of dead Islamist fighters behind them. Worst of all, they have managed to recruit innumerable Muslims to assist their war efforts.
"The spies... were sent to penetrate the ranks of the Muslims generally, and the mujahidin specifically, and [they] spread all over the lands like locusts," wrote Abu Yahya al-Libi, an al Qaida field commander in Afghanistan, in a new book called "Guidance on the Ruling of the Muslim Spy" (pdf).
"The spies are busy day and night carrying out their duties in an organized and secret manner... How many heroic leaders have been kidnapped at their hands? How many major mujahidin were surprised to be imprisoned or traced? Even the military and financial supply roads of the mujahidin, which are far from the enemy's surveillance, were found by the spies."
Al Qaida operations have been severely impeded by the intelligence war against them, al-Libi said. "As soon as the mujahidin get secretly into an area on a dark night, they are confronted by the Cross forces and their helpers. Many are killed or captured."
Western spies are found under every conceivable cover, al-Libi wrote. "They have among them old hunchbacked men who cannot even walk, strong young men, weak women inside their house, young girls, and even children who did not reach puberty yet. The spy might be a doctor, nurse, engineer, student, preacher, scholar, runner, or a taxi driver. The spy can be anyone...."
"The occupation armies completely rely on recruiting spies and informants from the Muslim lands they usurped and conquered... The spy lives among Muslims, being one of them: living their life, wearing their dress, eating what they eat... Therefore, he can access what the armed soldiers of the occupation cannot put hands on."
In the new book, published in Arabic (pdf) on jihadist websites on June 30, al-Libi ruminated at length on the religious and legal problem of the Muslim spy. Can there be a Muslim who spies against other Muslims or, since such a person would by definition be an apostate, is a Muslim spy a contradiction in terms? May such a person be killed? (It depends.) To convict a spy nowadays is it necessary to rely on the traditional two witnesses? (Again, it depends.) What about a person who is mistakenly executed as a spy? (God will reward him.)
Pervading the book is a sense of the overwhelming impact of U.S. and Allied intelligence operations on jihadist forces, and the willingness of indigenous Muslims to act with Western intelligence against those forces.
"Everyone who lives in the jihad battlegrounds... knows well that the occupation forces could not do one-tenth of what they do now if they did not recruit spies and informants.... Most of the mujahidin and their soldiers were killed or captured because of the intelligence information that the infidel forces have obtained from the secret soldiers whom they recruit, like swarms of locusts, from the native citizens who talk our language and pretend they are Muslims."
"Guidance on the Ruling of the Muslim Spy" by Abu Yahya al-Libi was translated, rather clumsily, by the DNI Open Source Center. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News.
The book cited the use of electronic homing devices to guide air-launched missiles to their targets and images of several such devices were included in the original Arabic version of the book (at page 146). The purported use of the devices was discussed in "CIA Drone Targeting Tech Revealed, Qaeda Claims" by Adam Rawnsley, Wired Danger Room, July 8, 2009. Memri.org also prepared a proprietary translation of the new Al-Libi book, which was reported by Fox News last week.
Wrap...
Monday, July 13, 2009
Just a minute here....
I tell you there's no way alcohol could do this by itself. Absolutely must be SMOKING RELATED or it's not valid data....
**************************
Alcohol link in 47% of murders
PAUL MILLAR | ALMOST half the homicides between 2000 and 2006 involved the consumption of alcohol, according to figures in a report.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/alcohol-link-in-47-of-murders-20090713-ditz.html
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
**************************
Alcohol link in 47% of murders
PAUL MILLAR | ALMOST half the homicides between 2000 and 2006 involved the consumption of alcohol, according to figures in a report.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/alcohol-link-in-47-of-murders-20090713-ditz.html
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Sunday, July 12, 2009
How will health fearmongers deal with this?
Hot damn! Have a new candidate for the "pure" people to forbid!
From: SMH News Update...
Words can ease pain, I swear
SWEARING can lessen the feeling of physical pain, scientists have discovered.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/science/words-can-ease-pain-i-swear-20090712-dhfi.html
[Use link above to continue to read]
Wrap...
From: SMH News Update...
Words can ease pain, I swear
SWEARING can lessen the feeling of physical pain, scientists have discovered.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/science/words-can-ease-pain-i-swear-20090712-dhfi.html
[Use link above to continue to read]
Wrap...
NY Times Online Price...Cheap!!!
From Levine Breaking News:
***New York Times Co. said in a survey of print subscribers that its considering a $5 monthly fee for access to its namesake newspapers Web site. Times Co. also asked whether subscribers would be willing to pay a discounted fee of $2.50 a month for access to the site, in the poll confirmed today by Catherine Mathis, a company spokeswoman. Nytimes.com, the most visited among newspapers sites, is currently free.
*********************
Okay. At those prices, I'd continue having the NY Times as my "front page" and to read it online. Wonder what everyone else thinks about this? Is the NY Times online worth $5 or $2.50 a month? Far as I'm concerned, you bet it is.
Wrap...
***New York Times Co. said in a survey of print subscribers that its considering a $5 monthly fee for access to its namesake newspapers Web site. Times Co. also asked whether subscribers would be willing to pay a discounted fee of $2.50 a month for access to the site, in the poll confirmed today by Catherine Mathis, a company spokeswoman. Nytimes.com, the most visited among newspapers sites, is currently free.
*********************
Okay. At those prices, I'd continue having the NY Times as my "front page" and to read it online. Wonder what everyone else thinks about this? Is the NY Times online worth $5 or $2.50 a month? Far as I'm concerned, you bet it is.
Wrap...
Hidden American "terrorists"....
From Buzz Flash....
If there's anything this nation doesn't need, it has to be this outfit and all like it. They truly are a danger to our Republic. Unless, of course, Americans desire a theocracy. Then we can be a country like Iran. Neat idea, huh? UGH!!!
**************************
Premium: Featured on Rachel Maddow Two Nights This Past Week. "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power" (July, 2009 Paperback Edition). Sen Ensign is Only the Latest Errant Bad Boy to Receive the "Spiritual" Support for His Sin from this Capitol Hill Elitist Fundy "Fellowship." They are Also Called the "C Street" Brethren. We Call Them Contemptible Cult Hypocrites. Even Mark "Dick Wad" Sanford Found "Solace" With Them.
Wrap...
If there's anything this nation doesn't need, it has to be this outfit and all like it. They truly are a danger to our Republic. Unless, of course, Americans desire a theocracy. Then we can be a country like Iran. Neat idea, huh? UGH!!!
**************************
Premium: Featured on Rachel Maddow Two Nights This Past Week. "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power" (July, 2009 Paperback Edition). Sen Ensign is Only the Latest Errant Bad Boy to Receive the "Spiritual" Support for His Sin from this Capitol Hill Elitist Fundy "Fellowship." They are Also Called the "C Street" Brethren. We Call Them Contemptible Cult Hypocrites. Even Mark "Dick Wad" Sanford Found "Solace" With Them.
Wrap...
Friday, July 10, 2009
No Smoking For Military...
From USA Today:
Ban on tobacco urged in military
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with smoking.
Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon's office of clinical and program policy, says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-07-09-smoking_N.htm?csp=DailyBriefing
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Ban on tobacco urged in military
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with smoking.
Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon's office of clinical and program policy, says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-07-09-smoking_N.htm?csp=DailyBriefing
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Thursday, July 09, 2009
On the Back Porch at Seaport Village in San Diego..
I went walking down at Seaport Village this afternoon. Walked out on N Embarcadero and back, ending up, as always, on the big wooden back porch of the Seaport Deli. It faces the small plaze full of concrete tables and benches with the carousel on the far side and the Fudge Factory, etc on the side. Big trees shading. Great place for people watching since it was over-flowing with all kinds of citizens and visitors.
I go in the Deli, get my coffee and head out on the back porch to enjoy. And there I see two couples and the about 5 year old son of one of them, sitting at a plaza table. The men have gone over to the hot dog place and brought back food.
The 5 year old sees a sparrow on the ground, so tosses a couple of chunks of hot dog bun down for the bird. Those chunks had no sooner hit the ground than out of the trees swooped about 30 birds...sea gulls, pigeons, sparrows...all in one big cloud of squawks and wings just a flappin'. Flat out descended on those chunks of bread. Came down so fast, the one man yelled, "GEEZUS", the women shrieked, and the little boy yelled, "WHAT DID I DO????" I thought I'd die laughing. Liked to have scared the crap out of that little guy.
Ah, how I love people watching from that back porch!
Wrap...
I go in the Deli, get my coffee and head out on the back porch to enjoy. And there I see two couples and the about 5 year old son of one of them, sitting at a plaza table. The men have gone over to the hot dog place and brought back food.
The 5 year old sees a sparrow on the ground, so tosses a couple of chunks of hot dog bun down for the bird. Those chunks had no sooner hit the ground than out of the trees swooped about 30 birds...sea gulls, pigeons, sparrows...all in one big cloud of squawks and wings just a flappin'. Flat out descended on those chunks of bread. Came down so fast, the one man yelled, "GEEZUS", the women shrieked, and the little boy yelled, "WHAT DID I DO????" I thought I'd die laughing. Liked to have scared the crap out of that little guy.
Ah, how I love people watching from that back porch!
Wrap...
Newsom is Right About Public Plan....
From Levine Breaking News:
GAVIN NEWSOM (Mayor of San Francisco): The president has been telling Americans that a public plan will create competition, lower the cost of private insurance, and improve care. The data from San Francisco is proving that he's right.
Wrap...
GAVIN NEWSOM (Mayor of San Francisco): The president has been telling Americans that a public plan will create competition, lower the cost of private insurance, and improve care. The data from San Francisco is proving that he's right.
Wrap...
Respect Your Body Clock...
From Levine Breaking News:
If you have a hard time crawling out of bed in the morning, it could be that your body is biologically programmed to start the day later. Experts say a spectrum of natural sleeping and waking rhythms exists, ranging from extreme morning people to extreme "night owls." A new study examines how morning people compare with night owls on a strength test and looks at what other physiological processes may contribute to their performance.
Wrap...
If you have a hard time crawling out of bed in the morning, it could be that your body is biologically programmed to start the day later. Experts say a spectrum of natural sleeping and waking rhythms exists, ranging from extreme morning people to extreme "night owls." A new study examines how morning people compare with night owls on a strength test and looks at what other physiological processes may contribute to their performance.
Wrap...
Monday, July 06, 2009
To DOD...Put up or else....
From Secrecy News:
PENTAGON INTEL OPS "OFTEN" EVADE OVERSIGHT
Last month, the House Intelligence Committee complained that the Department of Defense has blurred the distinction between traditional intelligence collection, which is subject to intelligence committee oversight, and clandestine military operations, which are not. Because they are labeled in a misleading manner, some DoD clandestine operations that are substantively the same as intelligence activities are evading the congressional oversight they are supposed to receive.
"In categorizing its clandestine activities," the Committee said in its report on the 2010 intelligence bill, "DoD frequently labels them as 'Operational Preparation of the Environment' (OPE) to distinguish particular operations as traditional military activities and not as intelligence functions. The Committee observes, though, that overuse of the term has made the distinction all but meaningless."
Operational Preparation of the Environment (OPE) is an elusive, somewhat mysterious concept, variously described as a form of foreign intelligence collection, covert action, unconventional warfare, or a prelude to any of these. The phrase does not appear in the otherwise comprehensive DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (pdf). It was mentioned in passing in the 2006 Posture Statement (pdf) of the U.S. Special Operations Command, but not in subsequent posture statements.
Some say OPE closely resembles human intelligence collection. OPE refers to "the ability of Defense to get into an area and know it prior to the conduct of military operations," said Gen. Michael Hayden at his 2006 confirmation hearing to be Director of CIA. "An awful lot of those [OPE] activities... are not, in terms of tradecraft or other aspects, recognizably different than collecting human intelligence for a foreign intelligence purpose," he said. "They look very much the same. Different authorities; somewhat different purposes; mostly indistinguishable activities."
From another point of view, OPE is more akin to covert action. "There is often not a bright line between [covert action and] military activities to prepare the battlefield or the environment," said DNI Dennis C. Blair in a written response to questions (pdf) about OPE in advance of his confirmation earlier this year (pp. 15-16).
Though it was neither intelligence collection nor covert action, "U.S. support to and in some cases leadership of irregular resistance to Japanese forces in the Philippine archipelago [in 1942-1945]... stands as a premier example of what military planners today call operational preparation of the environment," according to a historical survey of unconventional warfare in the September 2007 Irregular Warfare Joint Operating Concept (pdf).
Perhaps the most extensive unclassified treatment of OPE (then still known as "operational preparation of the battlespace" or OPB) appears in a 2003 U.S. Army War College research paper, which noted that the term is "seldom used outside of Special Operations Forces channels." OPE "consists of both pre-crisis activities (PCA) and, when authorized, advance force operations (AFO)," both of which are described by the author at some length. See "Combating Terrorism with Preparation of the Battlespace" (pdf) by Michael S. Repass, U.S. Army War College, April 2003. Further discussion appeared in "Leveraging Operational Preparation of the Environment in the GWOT" (pdf) by Maj. Michael T. Kenny, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2006. OPE should be reconceived as a stand-alone mission with its own doctrine, argued another research paper. See "Ending the Debate: Unconventional Warfare, Foreign Internal Defense, and Why Words Matter" (pdf) by D. Jones, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2006.
In any event, "DoD has shown a propensity to apply the OPE label where the slightest nexus of a theoretical, distant military operation might one day exist," according to the House Intelligence Committee report last month. "Consequently, these activities often escape the scrutiny of the intelligence committees.... In the future, if DoD does not meet its obligations to inform the Committee of intelligence activities," the House report concluded weakly, "the Committee will consider legislative action clarifying the Department's obligation to do so."
Wrap...
PENTAGON INTEL OPS "OFTEN" EVADE OVERSIGHT
Last month, the House Intelligence Committee complained that the Department of Defense has blurred the distinction between traditional intelligence collection, which is subject to intelligence committee oversight, and clandestine military operations, which are not. Because they are labeled in a misleading manner, some DoD clandestine operations that are substantively the same as intelligence activities are evading the congressional oversight they are supposed to receive.
"In categorizing its clandestine activities," the Committee said in its report on the 2010 intelligence bill, "DoD frequently labels them as 'Operational Preparation of the Environment' (OPE) to distinguish particular operations as traditional military activities and not as intelligence functions. The Committee observes, though, that overuse of the term has made the distinction all but meaningless."
Operational Preparation of the Environment (OPE) is an elusive, somewhat mysterious concept, variously described as a form of foreign intelligence collection, covert action, unconventional warfare, or a prelude to any of these. The phrase does not appear in the otherwise comprehensive DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (pdf). It was mentioned in passing in the 2006 Posture Statement (pdf) of the U.S. Special Operations Command, but not in subsequent posture statements.
Some say OPE closely resembles human intelligence collection. OPE refers to "the ability of Defense to get into an area and know it prior to the conduct of military operations," said Gen. Michael Hayden at his 2006 confirmation hearing to be Director of CIA. "An awful lot of those [OPE] activities... are not, in terms of tradecraft or other aspects, recognizably different than collecting human intelligence for a foreign intelligence purpose," he said. "They look very much the same. Different authorities; somewhat different purposes; mostly indistinguishable activities."
From another point of view, OPE is more akin to covert action. "There is often not a bright line between [covert action and] military activities to prepare the battlefield or the environment," said DNI Dennis C. Blair in a written response to questions (pdf) about OPE in advance of his confirmation earlier this year (pp. 15-16).
Though it was neither intelligence collection nor covert action, "U.S. support to and in some cases leadership of irregular resistance to Japanese forces in the Philippine archipelago [in 1942-1945]... stands as a premier example of what military planners today call operational preparation of the environment," according to a historical survey of unconventional warfare in the September 2007 Irregular Warfare Joint Operating Concept (pdf).
Perhaps the most extensive unclassified treatment of OPE (then still known as "operational preparation of the battlespace" or OPB) appears in a 2003 U.S. Army War College research paper, which noted that the term is "seldom used outside of Special Operations Forces channels." OPE "consists of both pre-crisis activities (PCA) and, when authorized, advance force operations (AFO)," both of which are described by the author at some length. See "Combating Terrorism with Preparation of the Battlespace" (pdf) by Michael S. Repass, U.S. Army War College, April 2003. Further discussion appeared in "Leveraging Operational Preparation of the Environment in the GWOT" (pdf) by Maj. Michael T. Kenny, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2006. OPE should be reconceived as a stand-alone mission with its own doctrine, argued another research paper. See "Ending the Debate: Unconventional Warfare, Foreign Internal Defense, and Why Words Matter" (pdf) by D. Jones, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2006.
In any event, "DoD has shown a propensity to apply the OPE label where the slightest nexus of a theoretical, distant military operation might one day exist," according to the House Intelligence Committee report last month. "Consequently, these activities often escape the scrutiny of the intelligence committees.... In the future, if DoD does not meet its obligations to inform the Committee of intelligence activities," the House report concluded weakly, "the Committee will consider legislative action clarifying the Department's obligation to do so."
Wrap...
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Knights in Shining Armour....
That, in today's world, is meant to be a compliment. How times have changed...
I've recently finished reading Ken Follet's 1,100 or so page novel, "World Without End" that is set in medieval times..the 1300's in England.
One of the most horrifying, sickening periods I have ever encountered in all my reading. I'm still having nightmares connected with the events and the people encountered in that book. Cannot get those characters and the evil so commonplace then out of my mind.
Power, money, lust, religion. Driving forces. As always. Think the Taliban are bad? You ain't seen nuthin' yet.
And so I look around at the powers that be in our current world and am reminded of how much some of them would like to have the powers the Lords, Ladies, Knights, Priors, Priests, the Catholic Church, King and Nobles of all kinds had then and just what they did with those powers. All men ruled all women. Period. The common folk had so very few rights that they were almost non-existant. It's a world I would never want to encounter in any way, shape, or form.
Follet is a most excellent writer. The man does intensive research. I highly recommend both of his books..."Pillars of the Earth" about the building of the cathedral, and "World Without End" that concerns that same cathedral some 200 years later. Reading them is entering a world one will not soon forget.
Wrap...
I've recently finished reading Ken Follet's 1,100 or so page novel, "World Without End" that is set in medieval times..the 1300's in England.
One of the most horrifying, sickening periods I have ever encountered in all my reading. I'm still having nightmares connected with the events and the people encountered in that book. Cannot get those characters and the evil so commonplace then out of my mind.
Power, money, lust, religion. Driving forces. As always. Think the Taliban are bad? You ain't seen nuthin' yet.
And so I look around at the powers that be in our current world and am reminded of how much some of them would like to have the powers the Lords, Ladies, Knights, Priors, Priests, the Catholic Church, King and Nobles of all kinds had then and just what they did with those powers. All men ruled all women. Period. The common folk had so very few rights that they were almost non-existant. It's a world I would never want to encounter in any way, shape, or form.
Follet is a most excellent writer. The man does intensive research. I highly recommend both of his books..."Pillars of the Earth" about the building of the cathedral, and "World Without End" that concerns that same cathedral some 200 years later. Reading them is entering a world one will not soon forget.
Wrap...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)