Short Takes

by John F. Baker -- Publishers Weekly, 9/13/2004

Walker publisher George Gibson bought a book about a seldom-discussed period in American history, when the colonists were growing increasingly unhappy in the early part of the 18th century and creating the leaders who would eventually be role models for the Founding Fathers. It's called Seeds of Discontent, and the author is historian J. Revell Carr, former director of Connecticut's Mystic Seaport Museum. Gibson got world English rights from agent Stuart Krichevsky.... Bill Shinker and Brendan Cahill at Gotham bought a saga about a California wine family, The House of Mondavi, from Michael Carlisle, his last deal before becoming part of the new Inkwell agency. Author Julia Flynn has expanded her WSJ story about the fractious family that did so much to build the Napa Valley wine industry.... Two new titles were bought for Penguin's ongoing Brief Lives series of short, authoritative biographies: one on legendary baseball executive Branch Rickey, by none other than Jimmy Breslin, bought by series editor Carolyn Carlson from agent David Black, and one on the recently deceased Julia Child by noted food author Laura Shapiro, this bought by Wendy Wolf from Amanda Urban at ICM.