Speculation, Fact and Fiction

I've finally hit a month where the diary is not insane. This means I'm doing more reading for pleasure and this week the relaxation book has been Iain Banks's Raw Spirit, in which he chronicles a search for the perfect dram.

It's an engaging and entertaining read, for whisky drinkers and/or for fans of the man and his books. I learned things about scotch production that I didn't know - and assorted things about the particular scotches that I drink. Like Bruchladdie, the only Islay malt I can enjoy, being the least peated of all of them. That'd be the reason then. It's also a celebration, in no particular order, of friendship, of craftsmanship and of Scotland.

When it was first published, I recall reading at least one review being snotty about it being a 'self-indulgent' book. Well, yes, in some ways it is but to my reading, he's well aware of that, acknowledging the deep pockets that enable him to enjoy fine whisky, fast cars and all the rest. Yes, and the problem with that would be what, exactly? None that I can see, when he's earned every penny of that success with his own talent and hard work. And I reckon the fact he's still pals with all manner of people who knew him 'back when' is a solid indicator that the aforementioned success hasn't gone to his head.

A couple of things surprise me. One is that the man's still alive, given his enthusiasms for fast cars, pyrotechnics (improvised and otherwise) and insane climbing stunts.

The other is more depressing and warrants comment even though I don't intend to do politics in this blog, as I always prefer to discuss such things face to face. The book was written from March 2003 onwards, when the Bush/Blair Iraq War just kicking off. It's appalling to realise Iain Banks's trenchant, even splenetic, condemnation of this was so horribly prescient and worse, is still entirely applicable today, three, nearly four, years later.

Oh and a final note, for clarification. Although we're published by the same imprint (Orbit) I don't know Iain Banks at all, beyond a couple of very brief introductions in the midst of assorted throngs.

The first of these was when I was a newly signed, not yet published, newbie author who was so overawed to be introduced to y'know, A Real Writer, that I could barely string three coherent words together. Even in that fleeting exchange, he was amiable, approachable and encouraging. Which was nice, and as I now know, is typical of almost every author up to and including the best of sellers.

I've just picked this up via the Book2Book newsfeed, which links to a story at contactmusic.com.

British author JAKE ARNOTT has agreed to pay substantial libel damages to a singer after creating an undesirable character with the same name for his novel JOHNNY COME HOME. Brit TONY ROCCO had a UK hit single in the 1960s with STALEMATE and continues to perform on London's cabaret circuit thanks to a loyal fanbase. But he was appalled to discover Arnott's character of the same name is portrayed as a paedophile. At a London court hearing yesterday (15NOV06), publishers Hodder + Stoughton agreed to pay Rocco substantial damages and promised to change the character's name in future editions. Johnny Comes Home follows wannabe rock star JOHNNY CHROME as he meets and greets the London music scene of the early 1970s.

Ouch.

Addendum: having flicked through the paper over lunch, see also this very interesting article by John Sutherland in The Guardian.

I take it I wasn't the only person physically nauseated when I saw a piece about this vileness on the main ITV evening news last night?

This just in via Shelf Awareness, which I found illuminating on several levels.

If They Sold If I Did It
Distasteful is perhaps not strong enough a word to describe how some booksellers feel about selling a book by O.J. Simpson, particularly one called If I Did It. The ReganBooks title is scheduled to be published November 30 and will be promoted on Fox TV in two segments featuring Simpson interviewed by Judith Regan.

As Nancy Olson, owner of Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, N.C., put it: "Do we take a 'stand' on such a book, thereby sending our customers who want to buy it to our competitors? Is this a form of censorship? Or do we make it available without displaying it other than having it on the shelf?" She added, "I'm disturbed to be put in such a position. Freedom of the press notwithstanding, the way they're marketing the book raises huge ethical questions. We all know the publishers are desperate to make money on commercial books, but this takes the cake." Late yesterday, Olson said, the store decided to sell the book but donate proceeds "to Interact, a nonprofit here that shelters battered women and children."

Several California booksellers have also decided to sell the book but donate the money earned from it to appropriate charities. Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, Calif., will give proceeds from If I Did It to the Nicole Brown Foundation. "Although in the spirit of freedom of speech, we will be carrying the book, we choose not to profit from it," general manager Allison Hill wrote. "We'll have bookmarks in the book to let customers know."

Green Apple Books, San Francisco, is donating proceeds to Casa de las Madres, a local shelter for battered women and will use shelf talkers to let customers know of the policy. Kevin Ryan called it "a good solution because we still have the book but are making a statement at the same time." He added the store had done this with several books, beginning with former President Nixon's memoirs in 1978.

Kelly Justice, manager of Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, Va., told Shelf Awareness that the store has cancelled its order for If I Did It, which like other bookstores, it had to buy blind. Fountain will fulfill special orders for the book and quietly donate proceeds to charity. She added that as of yesterday the store had decided on a new policy: it will no longer purchase a title for which the publisher gives no information. "It's been going on for years, and I can't do my job like that," she said. "It's not acceptable."

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In today's New York Times, Judith Regan offers some tortured explanations for publishing If I Did It, which she called "his confession. I would have had no interest in publishing anything but that." She stated that she had been the victim of domestic abuse and wanted to expose abusers like Simpson. Moreover, "We are all in the publishing business, and our business is to tell stories about what is going on. This is a news event."

She was also remarkably vague about where the advance and royalty money are going, saying that she had dealt with "a manager who represents a third party" that owns rights to the story. "I was told that the money would go to his children," she told the Times. "They said the money was not going to Simpson," who owes more than $33.5 million in uncollected civil court judgments to the families of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, whom he may or may not have murdered.

You may also be interested in the posts - and comment threads - at Bookseller Chick and Reading Under the Covers
Scroll down a few posts and you can also see what the divine Miss Snark and her cohorts think.