TODAY'S NEWS

Nobel Prize Is a Boon for Three Small Houses
By Michael Coffey
When the Nobel Prize in Literature was announced yesterday, even the most literate of Americans must have said, qui? The winner, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, the 68-year-old French novelist, though well-known in Europe, has been little known here. Though some of his work from the 1960s and ‘70s was published in English by Atheneum, those books are now out of print. Today, two small houses and university presses are the sole outposts for Le Clezio's works in English in the U.S.

David R. Godine published The Prospector in 1993. An ebullient Godine recalled a walk among the booths at Frankfurt, where, he said, he asks the same question of most foreign publishes each year: Who are your great writers who aren’t in English? “Anne-Marie Solange, at Gallimard—she’s always bitching that Americans don’t read French writers. So I asked her the question. She gave me three names—Sylvie Germain, Patrick Modiano and J.M.G. Le Clezio. I published all three, and for the right reasons. And now one pays off!” Read on »

'Misha' Case Dismissed
by Judith Rosen
Jane Daniel has lost her bid to overturn a $33 million judgment against her and her one-person publishing house, Mt. Ivy Press, by Misha Defonseca, author of Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years, and ghostwriter Vera Lee for inadequately promoting the book and hiding money in an offshore account.

Despite Defonseca admitting earlier this year that the book is a hoax and she isn’t even Jewish, on Tuesday Middlesex (Massachusetts) Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley dismissed the case, which was filed in April, because it was filed after the one-year statute of limitations. He rejected Daniel’s claim that the statute of limitations did not apply because Defonseca perpetrated a hoax on the court.

Daniel’s attorney told the Associated Press that he plans to appeal the ruling.

A Twain Feast to Penguin
by Matthew Thornton
Publishers still love Mark Twain. On the heels of Harper Studio’s recent announcement that their inaugural title will be Who Is Mark Twain, a collection of 22 previously unpublished pieces by the author, Penguin Press has just acquired Twain’s Feast: ‘The American’ at Table. Laura Stickney beat one other bidder for North American rights via Emma Sweeney. In the book, author Andrew Beahrs will search for America’s lost foods with Twain as his guide, weaving passages of Twain’s writing and historical research into a narrative of Twain’s travels; Sweeney compares the book to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (also published by Penguin Press) or Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. This is the first nonfiction book for Beahrs, 34, who has published two previous novels, and tentative publication date is spring 2010, the 100th anniversary of Twain’s death in 1910 (Harper Studio’s pub date is tied to the 99th anniversary).

Independent Book Publishers Association to Hold New England Publishing University
By Lynn Andriani
The Independent Book Publishers Association/Independent Publishers of New England will hold the first IBPA Regional Publishing University in New England in 10 years next month. Publishing University, which will be held in Manchester, NH, on November 7 and 8 will be the first such event held in Northern New England. The event, aimed at publishing professionals, authors and students, will feature panels led by industry leaders and entrepreneurs, an evening reception, a luncheon and a presentation—“Print On Demand and Independent Publishers”—by keynote speaker Chris Morrow, owner of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt.

Among the panels are “Creative Book Marketing: Fiction and Nonfiction,” “Distribution and Wholesaling: Options and Dangers” and “Social Media and Other Opportunities.” An “Ask the Experts” open Q&A will give attendees the opportunity to ask questions of IBPA board members, which include Jeanne Kramer of National Book Network, Steve Mettee of Quill Driver Books/Word Dancer Press and Nancy Stewart of Ingram.

Registration is available at www.ipne.org/events/registerpubu2008B.aspx.

Bantam Dell Organizes Breast Cancer Awareness Push
Continuing an annual tradition going on five years, Bantam Dell has rolled out easels stocked with books about breast cancer to indie booksellers across the country. The roll out is part of an effort to highlight books about the disease during October, which is breast cancer awareness month. To stock the displays, the Random House division put out an industry-wide call and some of the titles featured in the displays include Breast Cancer: The Complete Guide (Bantam), Dr. Susan Love's Breast Cancer Book (Da Capo), Five Lessons I Didn't Learn From Breast Cancer (NAL) and Cancer is a Bitch (Da Capo).

The easels were sent out to booksellers last week and they are also being pushed in a series of pro bono ads running in various publications throughout the month, including USA Today, Time Out New York and Publishers Weekly.

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MORE STORIES

Foster Wallace Memorial Scheduled
A memorial for David Foster Wallace, who recently died, has been scheduled by the author's longtime publisher, Little, Brown. The memorial, which will feature speeches about Wallace by colleagues and friends, is open to the public and will be held on Thursday, October 23, at 4 p.m. in New York City at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at 566 LaGuardia Place.

Monday's Reviews Today: Short Stories and Post Menopausal Dating
In Jon Raymond's new collection, Livability, the author offers up "nine gorgeous stories" set in the Pacific Northwest about people "testing the moral perimeters of their decent lives." From Jurdith Sills is Getting Naked Again, a practical and honest guide for "women of a certain age" who are getting back onto the dating scene.

Frankfurt Rights' Guides
Extending PW's coverage of the Frankfrut Book Fair, we have posted the rights guides of a number of publishers and agencies attending the fair. To search the guides go to www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6599058.html.

If you have a guide you would like to include, send it to Craig Teicher at craig.teicher@reedbusiness.com.

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Zane’s Sex Chronicles; Paula Deen's My First Cookbook, Chef Jeff Henderson
Tonight, Cinemax premieres Zane’s Sex Chronicles, an urban erotic television series based on Zane’s book of the same name (Atria series tie-in edition, $15). While over on Turner Classic Movies, guest host George Hamilton chats about his new memoir, Don’t Mind If I Do (Touchstone, $26)—which releases on Tuesday—while introducing an entire night of his films. Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Hader Lends a Voice
SNL’s Bill Hader recently stopped by the HarperMedia video studio to record a voiceover that actor Neil Gaiman plans to use in his reading tour for The Graveyard Book. Pictured here (l. to r.) are: Writer’s House agent Merrilee Heifetz; Gaiman; Hader; and Elise Howard, senior v-p and associate publisher, HarperCollins. Submit your pictures here »

JOB OF THE DAY

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