McGuigan Again
On the heels of his big Chris Farley auction, Peter McGuigan at Foundry has made a six-figure deal with Denise Silvestro at Berkley for !Satiristas¡ by Paul Provenza and Dan Dion. In the book, comedians George Carlin, Lewis Black, Janeane Garofalo, Sarah Silverman and others will sound off on everything from race to religion, politics to pornography. Provenza is co-creator and co-director of the movie The Aristocrats, and Dion is the house photographer for the Fillmore Auditorium. Berkley has North American rights and plans a fall 2008 pub; a possible cross-country comedy tour is in the works.
McGuigan also sold world English rights to Andy McCoy’s memoir, Sheriff McCoy, to Ian Christe in his first buy for new Brooklyn publisher Bazillion Points. McCoy is a founding member of Finnish heavy metal legend Hanoi Rocks; McGuigan made the deal on behalf of Finnish publisher WSOY.
Shakespeare to Tolstoy
Cary Goldstein, director of publicity at Twelve, has made his first acquisition for the imprint, Jess Winfield’s My Name Is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs and Shakespeare. Ellen Levine sold world rights. This debut novel tells the parallel tales of two Shakespeares, 1980s-era Willie Shakespeare Greenberg and the Elizabethan bard himself, unwitting targets in Reagan’s war on drugs and Elizabeth’s Catholic purges. Willie and William embark on odysseys that will force them each to become the Shakespeare he is destined to be. Winfield is cofounder of the Reduced Shakespeare Company and coauthor of the play The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). Pub date is July 2008.
At Touchstone, Amanda Patten bought world rights to Irina Reyn’sWhat Happened to Anna K. via agent Elizabeth Kaplan. This debut novel is a modern-day take on Tolstoy’s tragedy, set among a community of Russian-Jewish immigrants in New York, struggling with identity, fidelity and community. Reyn has an MFA from Bennington and has been published in One Story and Tin House; the novel has already been praised by Phillip Lopate. Pub date is August 2008.
Empathy and Authenticity
Primatologist and author of Our Inner ApeFrans de Waal has written a new book, Human(e), which John Glusman at Harmony has acquired from agent Michelle Tessler. De Waal will examine how empathy comes naturally to various animal species, including humans. Harmony has world rights, and a tentative pub date of fall 2009 has been set.
Glusman also bought world rights to the latest from Tibetan Buddhist Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, titled Facing Freedom: From Obstacle to Opportunity. This new book from the author of The Joy of Living will teach readers how to overcome everyday problems on the path to authenticity. Emma Sweeney made the deal and Eric Swanson will coauthor.
Simon to Dutton
Riding the Bus with My Sister author Rachel Simon has made a new deal with Trena Keating at Dutton, who preempted Building a Home with My Husband from agent Anne Edelstein. Simon will describe the year in which she discovered that renovating a house is mostly about the hard-won rewards of marriage and embracing the imperfect love of a flawed family. Keating published the paperback of Riding the Bus at Plume; Dutton has North American rights for the new book.
The Briefing
Marc Entertainment has acquired film rights to the Twisted Killer series, by Charles Pero, via SterlingHouse Publisher. The first book in the thriller series, The Maze Murderer, is just out; Stefan Marc will produce and develop the project along with CyntoMedia Corp.
