EarlyWord

News emerged over the weekend about a book by the prosecutor in the Casey Anthony murder trial. At that point, the book had not yet appeared on American retail or wholesaler sites.

Shortly after it did appear, the book went to #46 on Amazon’s sales rankings. It did even better on B&N.com rankings, where it is now at #1. No cover is available yet.

As we noted in the previous story, another book on the case has also been scheduled for November, Inside the Mind of Casey Anthony by Keith Ablow (St. Martin’s, 11/22).

Featured on last night’s MTV Video Music Awards was the teaser trailer for the much-anticipated Hunger Games, based on the book by Suzanne Collins. If you blinked, you may have missed it.

Many of the book’s fans were upset with the casting of blonde Jennifer Lawrence as the dark-haired, olive-skinned Katniss Everdeen. This, at least, shows that she looks the part, but the reaction, according to CBS News, is that, the trailer is catnip for fans, but confusing for newcomers.

The first in the four-part movie series arrives March 23, 2012.

In our New Title Radar for this week, we called George Pelecanos a “Usual Suspect,” since the release of a new title by him is a regular event, but we could have also characterized him as a “Media Darling.”

Reviews for his new book, The Cut, (Reagan Arthur/ Little, Brown; Audio, Hachette Audio and AudioGo) releasing today, appeared in a remarkable number of major newspapers in the last few days. All but one are enthusiastic about the beginning of this new series, featuring 29-year-old ex-Marine, Spero Lucas:

New York Times, by Janet Maslin (August 29, 2011); The Cut, “does a fine job of establishing Spero as a durable and highly appealing hero. And it sets up a back story and modus operandi that will work well for him in the future.”

Los Angeles Times, by Carolyn Kellogg (August 28, 2011); “For all the winningness of Spero Lucas — his modesty, postwar impatience, love for his family, devoted reading, easy banter, good taste in restaurants, gestures of kindness — it’s [the book’s] forward drive that makes him interesting, that makes him an excellent candidate for a mystery series.”

Washington Post, by Jonathan Yardley (August 28, 2011); “A book that entertains can also enrich, instruct and even enlighten. George Pelecanos’s books do all of that, which is plenty good enough for me.”

Portland Oregonian, by Steve Duin (August 27, 2011); the one reviewer who says Pelecanos is not at the top of his game with this one, still admits, “The Cut is not a total loss. Even when Pelecanos is misfiring, his writing has a fine rhythm, particularly when the novelist is taking readers on guided tours inside the Beltway.”

Financial Times, by Christopher Fowler (August 26); “This is gold-standard character-driven crime writing that few will ever match.”

Philadelphia Inquirer, by Dan DeLuca, 8/28; “George Pelecanos is rejuvenated in The Cut, the literary crime writer’s 17th novel and the first to feature Spero Lucas.”

USA Today, Interview by Carol Memmot, 8/28 (Pelecanos was also interviewed at the beginning of the month on NPR’s Morning Edition).

Pelecanos is a media darling in another context; he is a writer on two acclaimed HBO series, The Wire and Treme.

While some of us were pre-occupied by Hurricane Irene preparations this weekend, others were buzzing about a mysterious listing for a book on the Casey Anthony murder trial that appeared on Amazon.ca and B&N.com (where it wasn’t listed when we checked).

This morning, the Orlando Sentinal confirms that Jeff Ashton, the prosecutor in the case, is releasing a book in late November, titled Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony. Amazon.ca is showing the publisher as Morrow and the date as 11/29, but no information is currently on American retailer or wholesaler sites. UPDATE: Publishing information is now available:

Casey Anthony has been called “The most hated woman in America.” A report by The Los Angeles Examiner, based on anonymous sources, claiming that she signed a deal to write a book with an unnamed publisher, brought strong reactions. Suspicions that S&S might be the unnamed publisher resulted in furious comments on the company’s Facebook page and a denial, “An update to our fans regarding rumors about Simon & Schuster: we are not publishing, and have never intended to publish, any book by Casey Anthony, her family, or any member of her team.”

Anger at Anthony translates into approval for her prosecutor Ashton, who is getting kudos on Facebook for his book and being called “American’s Sweetheart” (even though, as Gawker comments, he “failed to convict a woman who was already convicted by cable television viewers”).

Already in the works is a book by the forensic psychologist who commented on Fox News frequently about the case, Keith Ablow. Also coming in November, it’s titled Inside the Mind of Casey Anthony, (St. Martin’s, 11/22).  Ablow has written several other books, including the similarly-titled Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson, (St. Martin’s, 2005)

Casey Anthony’s parents, once rumored to be working on a book deal, have denied those reports and are scheduled for an appearance on the Dr Phil Show on 9/12.

Dick Cheney and Tom Perrotta grab attention for books coming next week, while Simon Garfield‘s book about type fonts gets high praise. Titles to watch include the promising start of a new thriller series by Amanda Kyle William.  Usual suspects include James Patterson and Jude Devereaux. Nonfiction includes veteran Karl Marlantes‘s meditation on what it’s like to go to war, and Patrica Bosworth‘s much praised bio of Jane Fonda.

Media Darlings

In My Time: A Personal and Poltical Memoir by Dick Cheney (Threshold Editions; Simon and Schuster Audio, abridged) is scheduled for a torrent of prime time attention leading into its publication this coming Tuesday, and has already received an embargo-breaking review by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times. The former Vice President’s memoir is unlikely to get high marks for candor, but with a media blitz that his publisher is touting as one of the “largest nonfiction rollouts in publishing history,” he will be hard to miss.

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta (St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio) explores the lives of suburbanites left behind after the Rapture. Perrotta’s sixth novel has garnered an early New York Times review, in which Michiko Kakutani finds it “cartoony and melodramatic,” yet saved by “Perrotta’s affectionate but astringent understanding of his characters and their imperfections”. It also got an early NPR interview, and is an Oprah Book to Watch for in September. Though it’s Perotta’s darkest novel yet, this one was a favorite among librarians who joined our GalleyChat after ALA , and independent booksellers made it a September Indie Next Pick. It has been signed for an HBO series, says Variety.

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield (Penguin) argues that type fonts carry their own meaning, and explores what we are saying when we choose one. Already a hit in the UK, it got an early review in the New York Times, in which Janet Maslin enthused, “This is a smart, funny, accessible book that does for typography what Lynne Truss’s best-selling Eats, Shoots & Leaves did for punctuation: made it noticeable for people who had no idea they were interested in such things…Mr. Garfield has put together a lot of good stories and questions about font subtleties and font-lovers’ fanaticism.”

Watch List

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury) chronicles the 12 days leading up to Hurricane Katrina from the point of view of a pregnant 14-year-old black girl living with her three brothers and father in poverty on the edge of Bois Sauvage, Miss. Booklist says, “this coming-of-age story tends at times to get lost in its style…[but it is] redeemed by the empathetic family [Ward] has created.” It’s an Oprah Book to Watch for in September, and also an Indie Next Pick for the same month.

The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle William (Bantam) features a damaged Asian-American PI who fights her own personal demons while hunting for a serial killer, in the start of a new thriller series following William’s Madison Maguire paperback mysteries of the early 1990s. Booklist calls it “a character-driven, nonstop thriller with flashes of wit and romance that builds to a harrowing climax; fans of the genre will want to get in at the start.”

You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Kolya Maksik (Europa Editions) is a cautionary tale about a brilliant teacher in Paris, and his imperfections. Kirkus says, “Some of the best scenes in the novel involve the reconstruction of the philosophical give-and-take of his classroom, Will’s efforts to get his students to think and to make the literature their own.” It’s a September Indie Next Pick.

Northwest Angle by William Kent Krueger (Atria; Brilliance Audio) is the 11th Cork O’Connor mystery, this time set on an Ojibwa reservation in the remote Minnesota-Canadian border region. PW says, “Krueger never writes the same book twice as each installment finds him delving deeper into Cork’s psyche.” It’s another September Indie Next Pick.

Usual Suspects

Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson (Grand Central; Hachette Audio) is about a hard-up art student who finds a bag containing $13 million worth of diamonds during an attack on New York’s Grand Central Station, and makes off with it, only to be trailed by an assassin.

The Cut (Spero Lucas series) by George Pelecanos (Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio; AudioGo) is the first in a new series by Pelecanos, who was already interviewed about it on NPR’s Morning Edition last month.

Heartwishes: An Edilean Novel by Jude Deveraux (Atria; S&S Audio) follows the hunt for a magic stone that grants wishes.

A Trick of the Light (Armand Gamache Series #7) by Louise Penny (Minotaur; Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is the latest mystery featuring Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, this time set in a tiny Quebec village where the art world is gathered. Booklist says in a starred review: “Penny has been compared to Agatha Christie [but] it sells her short. Her characters are too rich, her grasp of nuance and human psychology too firm.” This one is also a Sept Indie Next Pick.

Young Adult

The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman (Scholastic) is the sixth book in the 39 Clues series, which is accompanied by two secret-filled card packs, and a website. This time, 13-year-old Dan Cahill and his older sister, who thought they belonged to the world’s most powerful family, discover their family members are being kidnapped by a shadowy group known only as the Vespers.

Nonfiction

What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes (Atlantic Monthly; Blackstone Audio) chronicles the real Vietnam War experiences of the author of Matterhorn. PW calls it “a riveting, powerfully written account of how, after being taught to kill, he learned to deal with the aftermath. Citing a Navajo tale of two warriors who returned home to find their people feared them until they learned to sing about their experience, Marlantes learns the lesson, concluding, ‘This book is my song.’ ”

Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman by Patricia Bosworth (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is a biography of the actress, fitness instructor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and activist that’s been 10 years in the making, written by a friend of Fonda’s who is also an accomplished biographer and Vanity Fair journalist. People gives it 4 of 4 stars and make it a People Pick in the 9/5 issue: “it is more than 500 pages and not one is wasted…[Bosworth] has written an astute accounting of a woman of deep contradictions, a depressive plagued by bulimia and self-doubt.” PW says, “With access to Fonda’s FBI files and personal papers, plus extensive interviews with her family and colleagues, Bosworth has succeeded in capturing Fonda’s step-by-step transformation from wide-eyed, apolitical ingénue to the poised personality of recent decades.”

Where You Left Me by Jennifer Gardner Trulson (Gallery Books) is a 9/11 widow’s memoir by the wife of Doug Gardner, an executive broker and father of two, who was one of the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed in the Twin Towers. Kirkus calls this “uneven, but in its stronger moments, the book provides trenchant insights into one woman’s resilience and makes a respectable entry in the burgeoning field of 9/11 widow memoirs.”

The embargo on Dick Cheney’s memoir, In My Time (Threshold/S&S, 8/30) has already been broken. In a review that appears in print tomorrow, the New York Times‘ Michiko Kakutani follows up on Cheney’s claim that the book will cause heads to “explode all over Washington.”

If it does, she says, it will be because of Cheney’s “dry, truculent prose [which] turns out to be mostly a predictable mix of spin, stonewalling, score settling and highly selective reminiscences.”

Kakutani says the book describes Bush era Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as “naïve and inexperienced in her efforts to reach a nuclear weapons agreement with North Korea.”

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Crown announced today that Condoleezza Rice’s memoir of that period, No Higher Honor, will be released on Nov. 1. The press release claims that her account will be “vivid and forthright.”

Right; particularly if she gets a chance to revise the manuscript after reading Cheney’s book.

The opening segment in what S&S calls “one of the largest media rollouts in nonfiction publishing history,” aired on the Today Show this morning. In a preview of Dick Cheney’s taped NBC interview, airing on Monday night, the day before the publication of the former VP’s memoir In My Time (Threshold/S&S, 8/30), he claims the book will “have heads exploding all over Washington.”

Next Tuesday, Matt Lauer will interview Cheney live on the Today Show. After that, he will be wherever you turn; on Fox, CNN, CNBC, ABC, CBS and even C-Span as well as in print interviews in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.

The book was embargoed and few libraries are showing it on their catalogs at this point.

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Last week, S&S announced that Walter Isaacson’s bio of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was going to be released on Nov. 21, several months ahead of its original date of March 6, because it was “finished and ready to publish.”

That news set Silicon Valley buzzing. As tech journalist Nicholas Thompson says, “who really finishes a book early, particularly when the subject is someone as irascible and complex as Steve Jobs?”

It turns out that the story was prophetic; yesterday, Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January, stepped down as CEO of Apple.

The New York Post calls this a “gift to Simon & Schuster.” Indeed, the book simply titled Steve Jobs: A Biography rose to #23 on Amazon’s sales rankings, from #1,286. Several libraries have not ordered it; reviews are under embargo.

The media has been focused on a major debut coming from a division of Random House, The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday, 9/13).

Meanwhile, another major debut, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, from another Random House division, Ballantine (Audio, Random House Audio and Books on Tape and OverDrive; Large Print, Thorndike), was released to less media fanfare yesterday. Reviews are mixed, but they contain hints that the book will be a hit.

Despite its old-fashioned sounding title and elegant cover, the book is actually about a gritty subject, how foster care often harms kids. Victoria, who has grown up in the system in present day San Francisco, is newly on her own and homeless. Her background makes it difficult for her to trust people, but her knowledge of the secret messages conveyed by flowers leads to a job and finally a satisfying life.

In yesterday’s review on NPR’s Web site, under the pun-filled headline, “Overly Rosy Premise Proves Thorny In Flowers,” Rachel Syme makes an effort to talk herself down from enjoying the book,

As invigorating as [the language of flowers] is as a literary device, it does border on a gimmick — the overreaching and common curse of debut novels. It all seems to tie together too neatly…Where Diffenbaugh sees plot holes, she simply fills them with flowers.

Nevertheless, it leaves a lasting impression

The language of flowers, as illuminated through Victoria’s words and a special appendix, turns out to be an addictive preoccupation: Once you know that peonies represent anger; basil, hate; and red carnations, heartbreak, every supermarket bouquet takes on a new significance.

The Wall Street Journal throws in a few digs before ending on a positive note:

The Language of Flowers has been as carefully conceived and executed as a handmade wedding bouquet to appeal to readers accustomed to seeing their heroines sink into depths of despair before emerging to claim hard-won redemption. But if the novel is predictable, it is also lucid and lovely—Ms. Diffenbaugh has found a vibrant way to tell a familiar story of rift (Carolina jasmine) and reconciliation (hazel).

Both reviews attest, if condescendingly, to the book’s appeal for book clubs:

NPR; ‘The combination of harrowing orphan story and delicate exploration of a Victorian art form will be catnip for book clubs and airborne readers.”

WSJ; “Victoria’s emotional journey through the tunnel of her memories to the light of second chances is a staple of best-selling and book-club fiction”

The language of flowers may not be as antique as it seems. The UK’s Daily Mail sees a revival, both because of the book, which is a bestseller there, and because Kate Middleton used what is technically called “floriography” to choose the flowers for her wedding bouquet and the Royal wedding cake.

The book is now at #669 on Amazon sales rankings, but at a much higher #46 on B&N.com, where it is promoted on the home page under  “Cool Books: Titles We’re Talking About.” Some libraries are showing heavy holds.

Ray Bradbury turned 91 on Monday and received some enviable presents. Alice Hoffman published a tribute in the L.A. Times, describing how, as a teenager, his books insulated her “from the despair of a family that was breaking apart.”

News also broke that Mike Medavoy (Black Swan) is producing a film version of Bradbury’s 1957 novel Dandelion Wine (Knopf). Bradbury, who will write the screenplay, expressed his joy over the new project,

This is the best birthday gift I could ask for. Today, I have been reborn! Dandelion Wine is my most deeply personal work and brings back memories of sheer joy as well as terror. This is the story of me as a young boy and the magic of an unforgettable summer which still holds a mystical power over me.

For those who haven’t read the book in a while, this line is a reminder of the book’s magic,

Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered.

If you have some PDF’s that you want to convert to your eReader, the blog eBookNewser offers a step-by-step (a mere twelve in total) tutorial.

Caveat: we haven’t tried this, so we can’t verify that it works

Many have called it “unfilmable,” but the Wachowski siblings (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run) will try their hands at adapting David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, beginning in mid-September, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

They face the challenge of adapting a book that connects six stories set in different time periods and locations. The actors will play multiple roles and the production will involve two parallel shoots.

The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent.

They may need to change their slogan to “It’s Not TV, It’s Books.”

Neil Gaiman told a crowd at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Monday that he will be adapting American Gods for HBO. The deal, which was announced, in June has now been finalized. In the original announcement, The Hollywood Reporter said it was the next project for Tom Hanks’ Playtone production company, with an expected debut of 2013 at the earliest.

The 2001 book was reissued as a hardcover “Author’s Preferred Text 10th Anniversary Edition” in June.

American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Novel Neil Gaiman Retail Price: $26.99 Hardcover: 560 pages Publisher: William Morrow – (2011-06-21) ISBN / EAN: 0062059882 / 9780062059888

HBO has had some success with book adaptations, including Game of Thrones (season two begins in April), Too Big to Fail, Mildred Pierce and John Adams.  A roster of other  book-related projects are in the works:

The Day the Laughter Stopped  — a film about the downfall of silent screen star Fatty Arbuckle based on The Day the Laughter Stopped by David A. Yallop (St. Martins, 1976; now out of print, but still owned by many libraries). Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) has signed to play the tragic star, with Barry Levinson directing.

The Leftovers  — based on the forthcoming novel by Tom Perotta (St. Martin’s, 8/30) about what happens to those who are left behind after “The Rapture.” Variety reported last week that HBO is developing a series based on the book.

Earlier announcements:

HBO Film: Game Change

Producer: Playtone (Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman)
Director: Jay Roach
Starring: Julianne Moore (Sarah Palin), Ed Haris (John McCain), Woody Harrelson (Steve Schmidt, McCain’s campaign strategist)
Based on: Book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (Harper, 2010) about  John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Status: Wrapping; Moore as Palin, above.

More projects after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

New York magazine is the first out of the gate with a preview of the fall season in everything from Night Life to Art and Dance.

Sandwiched in between is the Books preview. Typically for NY mag’s book coverage, the focus is high-brow; the main feature is on Hungarian Péter Nádas’s “ornate secular monstrosity that must rank as one of his country’s strangest, most ambitious literary achievements,” Parallel Stories.

Parallel Stories: A Novel Péter Nádas Retail Price: $40.00 Hardcover: 1152 pages Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux – (2011-10-25) ISBN / EAN: 0374229767 / 9780374229764

The second feature, “Big-League Payday,” brings the news that, “Book-publishing revenue is up … and the monster advances are back, too” (haven’t they heard that Borders is closing?) and focuses on Chad Harbach’s debut novel The Art of Fielding, which Little, Brown paid $650,000 for in a hot auction against seven other publishers. It also resonated on GalleyChat in July:

The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach, Little, Brown, 9/7
Hachette Large Print, 9780316204729
GalleyChat Comments — a “masterpiece” and “Baseball and Moby Dick–what a combination! ”

Also featured is the graphic novel, Habibi.

Habibi Craig Thompson Retail Price: $35.00 Hardcover: 672 pages Publisher: Pantheon – (2011-09-20) ISBN / EAN: 0375424148 / 9780375424144

The 18 books NY mag is “also anticipating” leads with The Night Circus, adding to the already over-the-top expectations by calling it a “magical-history tale of star-crossed sorcerer’s-apprentice lovers, the leading contenders to succeed Harry Potter in the pop firmament.”

The rest of the list steers clear of pop.

W. Ralph Eubanks, director of publishing at the Library of Congress, points out, as have others, that the movie The Help glosses over “what a truly dark time it was in Jackson” during the Civil Rights era.

In the film, a young woman, Skeeter Phelan, writes a book about the lives of the maids in Jackson, Mississippi, which reflects the tense relationship between whites and blacks during that time.

On NPR’s All things Considered last night, Eubanks says that, in real life, Eudora Welty did something similar, but much darker. She wrote the short story  “Where Is the Voice Coming From?” about the murder of African-American civil rights worker Medgar Evers from the point of view of his white killer, “bravely capturing the feelings that were in the air in Jackson that year.” He concludes, “Whether or not you liked The Help‘s optimistic tone, read ‘Where Is the Voice Coming From?’ to fill in a piece of the story that’s missing from the minute the credits begin to roll.”

The story is included in The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty (HMH; Mariner trade pbk, 9780156189217).