Diggs Building at Thunder's Mouth

by Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 2/12/2007

After a nomadic career that runs from writing novels to directing Random House's African-American imprint One World, Anita Diggs has settled in at Thunder's Mouth Press with a mandate to strengthen its African-American and general pop culture lists.

Diggs joined Thunder's Mouth in 2005 as a senior editor, acquiring African-American literature, true crime, women's lit and general pop culture. "Thunder's Mouth used to have a strong African-American list under its founder, Neil Ortenberg," said Diggs. "It's not been as strong in black literature in recent years. The list was mostly pop culture and science."

But Diggs has some big nonfiction titles coming in 2007 on hip-hop and more. In the early spring, two titles will focus on the yin and yang of hip-hop culture—"old school rap and gangsta rap. I love them both," said Diggs. In April, she will publish Dr. Dre by hip-hop journalist Ronin Ro. "It's a biography of the guy who popularized using the N-word and all the other stuff that people hate about hip-hop," said Diggs. And coming in March is When Rap Had a Conscience: The Golden Age of Hip Hop 1987–1996 by Tayannah Lee McQuillar. Diggs is also publishing an unusual nonfiction work called The Money Shot by Lawrence Ross, an intellectual history of African-Americans in the pornography industry. "Racism even pervaded the porn business," Diggs said.

In more general pop culture, Diggs's list will include The Label: The Story of Columbia Records by Gary Marmorstein, a major history of the label that did Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and Michael Jackson. A biography of singer Billy Joel by Mark Bego is also planned, as are books on the Kennedy family and actress Reese Witherspoon.

"The list just reflects who I am," said Diggs. "I love hip-hop, but I also want to know where our next James Baldwin is coming from."