The PW Morning Report, February 23, 2009
By Dermot McEvoy -- Publishers Weekly, 2/23/2009 6:03:00 AM
Monday, February 23, 2009
A daily
round-up of the latest publishing news: Three Book Deal for Condi Rice; Christy Nolan Remembered; Rushdie Disses Slumdog; Atwood Reconsiders Dubai; Gerald E. Myers Dead; Tayeb Salih Dead; and Booze, and Writers Who Prose
Condoleezza Rice in Three-Book Deal with Crown, reports AP
The former Secretary of State gets $2.5 million. The first book will be a memoir about her years in the Bush 43 administration. It will be published in 2011. Hey Condi, tomorrow is Fat Tuesday. As they say in New Orleans: Laíssez les bons temps rouler!
Christopher Nolan Remembered
Christy Nolan died last Friday in Dublin. The very talented Eileen Battersby remembers him in the Irish Times. According to the AP, Irish President Mary McAleese said in a statement, "Christopher Nolan was a gifted writer who attained deserved success and acclaim throughout the world for his work, all the more remarkable given his daily battle with cerebral palsy." He was very special to some of us here at PW because after we profiled him, we got to know him and his sister, Yvonne, who also contributed a few stories for the magazine. He will be missed. God love you, Christy, my friend
Salman Rushdie Disses Slumdog Millionaire, reports AP
He apparently didn’t like other Oscar winners adapted from books either, including The Reader and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Hey Salman, it’s not your night. Give it a rest!
Margaret Atwood Reconsiders Dubai Festival, reports The Guardian
The censorship brouhaha continues as Margaret Atwood wonders if she should go to Dubai after all
Gerald E. Myers, Expert on William James and Modern Dance, Dead at 85, reports New York Times
His eclectic tastes were represented by William James: His Life and Thought (1987), Self: An Introduction to Philosophical Psychology (1969) and Who’s Not Afraid of Martha Graham? (2008)
Tayeb Salih, Arab Novelist, Dead at 80, reports New York Times
His The Season of Migration to the North (1966) dealt with a clash of East and West civilizations
Booze, and Writers Who Prose
Brian McDonald has an interesting essay in the New York Times on writers and booze. He mentions Elaine’s as a writer’s bar. Too bad he never made it to the Lion’s Head on Christopher Street in the Village where real working writers used to drink. "Is this the place where writers with drinking problems come?" asked a tourist one day. "No," said Archie Mulligan, the worst bartender God ever put on earth, "this is where drinkers with writing problems come." It’s also where a big chunk of Pete Hamill’s A Drinking Life took place.
