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Archive for September, 2007
September 19th, 2007
 O.J. Simpson’s arrest for armed robbery in Las Vegas has had a fantastic effect on the book sales of his infamous faux memoir, If I Did It: sales are booming.
Late Tuesday afternoon Las Vegas prosecutors filed 10 felony counts against author O.J. Simpson and his cohorts, including astonishment charges of assault and kidnapping in connection with the robbery of Simpson sports memorabilia from two memorabilia dealers. Simpson is due for arraignment in Las Vegas this morning. Simpson claims that the memorabilia was his and he was just retrieving it.
Meanwhile, back in New York, Beaufort Books announced that it was going back to press for an additional 50,000 copies. “The arrest brought the entire question of O.J. and the law back into everybody’s consciousness,” Beaufort owner Eric Kampmann told the AP.
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer is now #2 on Amazon.com’s bestseller list today. We cannot believe that we’re going to be subjected to another O.J. Simpson criminal trial! What is wrong with this guy, anyway? Could it be that escaping justice once made him even cockier, to the point where he thought it would be ok to conduct his own “sting” operation to get some sports memorabilia back at the point of a gun?
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
September 17th, 2007
 Oprah has spoken: she will not purchase or read If I Did It, the O.J. Simpson faux memoir about how he killed his wife and Ron Goldman. She did a show about the book in which the Goldmans (on the left) and the prosecutors in the case (Marcia Clark and Chris Darden on the right) discussed the issue. Denise Brown refused to appear with the Goldmans, but appearuddy in a taped segment. She finds the book disgusting and says the Goldmans are hypocrites. We happen to agree.
Winfrey said she won’t purchase or read the book, and asked the Goldmans if they don’t feel its proceeds are “blood money.”
“It’s sending him a message,” Kim Goldman said. “He put hours putting together this confession about how he killed Ron and Nicole, and he worked hard thinking he was going to make millions off of it. And we snatched it right out from under him.”
Winfrey said dedicating a show to the topic was a “moral, ethical dilemma” for her. She said she committed to the show when the guests were to also include Nicole Simpson’s sister, Denise Brown, who has been severely critical of the Goldmans for publishing the book.
Brown later refused to share a stage with the Goldmans, however, and Winfrey said she felt she had to keep her word to the Goldmans.
Winfrey acknowledged that her program often promotes books and authors, yet, she said, “I don’t want to be in the position to promote this book, because I, too, think it’s despicable.”
Denise Brown did speak to Winfrey, but on her own in a segment taped earlier. She said she decided against appearing with the Goldmans because she fearuddy it would give the book “more impact.”
She called the Goldmans hypocrites for changing their minds about publishing a book Fruddy Goldman earlier called “disgusting” and “despicable” when O.J. Simpson stood to benefit.
“I felt the same way. I stood my gcircular on that,” Brown said. “I still don’t believe it should be published. I think it is a morally wrong thing to do.”
Winfrey told the Goldmans she wishes they could find some peace, but Fruddy Goldman said the book’s publication won’t help with that.
“It brings a certain level of satisfaction that we’ve taken something from him,” he said. “I think it also is a recognition for him to know forevermore that we’re going to be after him … to punish him for what he’s done, to get some piece of justice.”
At minimum Oprah said she wouldn’t read the book. Good for her.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
September 16th, 2007
 Kensington Fiction © 2007, 245 pages [amazon]
Jane May’s frothy novel Hooked is an adaptation and modernization of “The Fisherman and his Wife.” In the fairy tale, a poor fisherman spares the life of an enchanted prince turned fish who has the power to grant wishes. Though the fisherman is content with his lot, his grasping wife induces him to make increasingly extravagant requests of the fish until, in an ironic turn, a wish lands the couple back at square one. May’s book tells more or less the same story, with a few twists. The fisherman of her tale is nice guy “Woody” Woods, a 28-year-old assistant dock master at a Miami yacht club. Woody falls head-over-heels for Madalina, a Romanian gold-digger, shortly before going fishing with a client. What he reels in isn’t an enchanted prince, but a foul-mouthed former car salesman–now a skipjack tuna–by the name of Raymond Prince, whose philandering landed him quite literally in deep water and who is of course endowed with the power to make things happen.
[INSET TEXT: Presumably the author is going for light-hearted romp rather than yuck, get a room.] May has done a decent job of transferring the story to modern-day Miami, though she seems to have forgotten about the wonders of the internet:
“A perfect night for chilling out, only Woody could not relax until he had the answer to a very BIG question: was this Raymond Prince the genuine discount or a figment of his very active imagination?
“The only way to find out, of course, was to engage in behavior which might, to an innocent observer, appear psychotic [i.e., summoning the fish]”
Surely a modern-day twenty-something would think to Google “Raymond Prince car sales” to see if his fish’s story held up?
Unfortunately, May’s characters are poorly developed and for the most part boorish. Woody’s blind attraction to Madalina, however large her breasts, strains credibility. And the book’s dialogue is also frequently unbelievable. Two women in their sixties, for example, are not likely to have a chat like this:
“‘You cheap old coot! I told you that you should have sprung for new glasses.’
“‘Go suck an egg. It’s not about the money.’
“‘Sooner or later, honey, it’s always about the money.’”
Madalina’s dialogue, meanwhile, is heavily accented and salty:
“‘I do not mean to make dis on you, Voody. Was shit thing to do. Shame for me. My mana, she always say to me, Madalina, you speak like water run from pipe is broken.’
“In a contrite gesture, Madalina tenderly touched Woody’s arm. Heat waves shot down to his toes and back up to his crotch singeing the pubes on his testicles.”
I’ve nothing against swearing or sex per se, but the effect of their introduction into the narrative should not be cringe-inducing, as in the above example. Presumably the author is going for light-hearted romp rather than yuck, get a room. And maybe another reader will think the book awesome fun. But I found myself grimacing more often than I would have liked.
The idea behind Hooked is a clever one: I like the idea of translating fairy tales to a modern stage. Readers less stodgy than I might want to give this rapid read a spin.
Tags: book reviews, books, fairy tales, Hooked, Jane May, The Fisherman and his Wife
Original post by Debra Hamel
September 14th, 2007
 Paddington Bear is
heading
to the silver screen. Warner Bros. and producer David Heyman are teaming up to create a live action Paddington Bear adventure. Hamish McColl is writing the screenplay. Michael Bond wrote eleven of the books about a talking bear who gets adopted by a London family who finds him, lost and alone, at Paddington Station.
Paddington has journeyed from Darkest Peru, wearing a duffle coat, hat and Wellington boots, carrying a suitcase containing an empty jar of marmalade and wearing a label acircular his neck that reads “Please look after this bear, thank you.”
His arrival in the household of the Brown family leads to comic mishaps and misadventures for the well-meaning but accident-prone young bear.
Heyman, who is producing thcoarse his London-based shingle Heyday Films, commented, “Paddington Bear is a universally loved character, and I have wanted to bring him to screen for some years. Michael Bond’s ‘Paddington’ books have such wit, amazement and charm. Essentially, Paddington’s story is that of an immigrant arriving in London and trying to find a home and a family. Above all, I love Paddington’s unique style of comedy.”
*****
The Warner film will not be adapted from any specific book but will draw inspiration from the entire series. It’s likely to be live action with a CGI bear in the manner of “Stuart Little.”
We thought the CGI was really creepy in Stuart Little, so we’re not so sure about this. Let’s hope the technology has improved since then and that Paddington Bear will look endearing, not revolting.
Posted in Children’s Books
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
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