The Book Room

Palin's book cover unveiled

2009-10-01T21:47:28Z

You know the title, now see the cover of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue.

The former Alaska governor's memoir, a top-seller online weeks before publication, will feature an outdoor shot of Palin, wearing an American flag pin on her red fleece top, eyes turned slightly from the camera as she smiles confidently into the horizon, a patchwork of Alaska blue sky and clouds behind her.

The image was released Thursday by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins.

The book, originally planned for next spring, is coming out Nov. 17 with an announced first printing of 1.5 million copies. Palin and collaborator Lynn Vincent finished Going Rogue just two months after Palin's resignation as governor.

Hillel Italie/AP

Excerpts leak from Patrick Swayze's memoir

2009-09-24T15:52:07Z

"Dirty Dancing" made Patrick Swayze a superstar, but when he first read the script, he found it a little ... clean.

The actor, who died Sept. 14 of cancer, writes in his memoir, "It seemed fluffy -- nothing more than a summer-camp movie."

The memoir The Time of My Life comes out next Tuesday.

Swayze's reaction was completely different about another future smash, "Ghost." He immediately wanted to be in it and persuaded producer Jeff Zucker to cast him despite Zucker's skepticism that Swayze could play a sensitive leading man.

Details from the highly anticipated memoir are slipping out all over the Web. Here's a round-up of the juiciest tidbits:

• Swayze did, of course, wind up taking the part in "Dirty Dancing," but some days his work with co-star Jennifer Grey made him wish he hadn't: "We did have a few moments of friction when we were tired or after a long day of shooting. [Grey] seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her. Other times, she slipped into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over again when she'd start laughing. ... I was on overdrive for the whole shoot -- staying up all night to do rewrites, squeezing in dance rehearsals, shooting various scenes -- and was exhausted a lot of the time. I didn't have a whole lot of patience for doing multiple retakes."

• Swayze also remembered working with a then-little known Tom Cruise in Francis Coppola's adaptation of the young adult classic "The Outsiders." Cruise, Swayze writes, was so "self-conscious about his teeth" that he resisted magazine photo shoots.

• The memoir is co-written with his wife Lisa Niemi. When the couple married, they wrote their own vows. Here's what Swayze said to her: "Together, we've created journeys that were beyond anything we could imagine. We have ridden into the sunset on a white stallion, countless times. We've tasted the dust in the birthplaces of religions. Yet you still take my breath away. I'm still not complete until I look in your eyes. You are my woman, my lover, my mate and my lady. I've loved you forever, I love you now and I will love you forevermore."

• Swayze speaks of a life well lived, but he says his one regret was not becoming a father. He and Niemi tried, but after she miscarried the devastated couple didn't conceive again. "I couldn't wait to become a dad, to have a child with this woman I loved so dearly. And I wanted to be the best father I could be -- the kind of father my dad had been to me. I felt completely crushed with grief. We wanted to try again, but the loss had been so devastating that we just couldn't do it right away. We figured we had plenty more years ahead of us. Eventually, we did start trying again hoping Lisa would get pregnant. But she never did."

• The couple's bond, however, remained strong. He reflects: "The one thing I realized as Lisa and I retraced the arc of our lives is that no matter what happened, we never, ever gave up -- on each other, or on our dreams. I'm far from perfect, and I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. But that's one thing we both got right, and it's the one thing that's keeping me going today."

• Swayze writes about how he first got the news about his cancer late in 2007: "I had been having some digestive trouble, mostly acid reflux and a kind of bloated feeling, for a few weeks. I've had a sensitive stomach my whole life, so I hadn't thought much of it, but lately I just couldn't shake the constant discomfort." He knew right away what he was facing. "My doctor told me my chances of surviving for more than a few months weren't high, and I had no reason to doubt him."

• Swayze filmed his last TV series, "The Beast," in Chicago -- while he was undergoing treatment. "I continued with chemotherapy all the way through the shoot," he writes. "But I never took any painkillers since they dull not only your pain but also your sharpness."

• In the end, he sums up his life this way: "I began thinking to myself, I've had more lifetimes than any 10 people put together, and it's been an amazing ride. So this is okay."

A rep for the actor confirms that, before he died last week, Swayze recorded a reading of his autobiography. That audio-book CD will be available on Tuesday, as well.

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Another scandal victim gets book deal

2009-09-22T14:37:58Z

Jenny Sanford (right) in happier times
with her husband, South Carolina
Gov. Mark Sanford. (AP)

Ballantine, a Random House imprint, has announced it will publish Jenny Sanford's "inspirational memoir" next spring. Frankly it took me a minute to remember who she was -- and it wasn't until I saw her name connected to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford that I remembered. (The governor admitted a few months ago that he had a yearlong affair with an Argentine woman.)

The publisher says Sanford -- who has since moved out of the governor's mansion but says she and her husband are working to repair their marriage -- "will grapple with the universal issue of maintaining integrity and a sense of self during life's difficult times."

My two cents: Does anyone begrudge a beleaguered spouse the opportunity to tell his or her story? No. But it is questionable as to how many books written by wives of cheating politicians we really need? After Elizabeth Edwards' Resilience and the steeped-in-denial interviews she gave while promoting it, politicians' wives are simply beginning to look gullible, weak and as concerned with appearances as their husbands' campaign managers.

Vote for best fiction title in National Book Award history

2009-09-21T18:54:10Z

The National Book Awards would like your vote.

Organizers of the prestigious literary prize are asking the public to choose the best fiction winner in the awards' 60-year history.

The six finalists, announced by the National Book Foundation, are:

* The Stories of John Cheever
* Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
* Collected Stories of William Faulkner
* The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor
* Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
* The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

Votes can be cast through the Web site www.nbafictionpoll.org through Oct. 21. The winner will be announced Nov. 18.

Tim Gunn: Fashion crimefighter

2009-09-04T19:05:28Z

Tim Gunn is mentor to fashion designer
wannabes on "Project Runway."

Tim Gunn (in gray hair and glasses) as superhero.

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL

Tim Gunn is taking his fight against fashion crimes from the workrooms of "Project Runway" to the pages of a comic book. And, wow, does he get to wear a power suit.

The "Loaded Gunn" story line -- to save an exhibit of extraordinary superhero clothes from a cadre of villains -- is part of a book that reintroduces a group of Marvel's high-fashion "Models Inc." comic characters from the 1960s.

"It's a little 'America's Next Top Model' -- without Tyra (Banks) -- and a little 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,"' says Marvel editor Charlie Beckerman.

The Gunn project evolved on a whim, but it turned out Gunn was a childhood comic fan and a good sport, Beckerman says.

Gunn says the experience has been "the most bizarre thing."

"It's exciting and exhilarating, but bizarre. When they came to me, I said, 'I'm about to turn 56 years old. Are they crazy?' But it kept revealing itself in layers and next thing, I'm wearing the 'Iron Man' suit. I was dumbstruck."

Personally, Gunn says he always fancied himself more of a Batman type, but he's pleased with the result.

"Most superheroes are fighting the same thing -- good vs. evil -- but who's taking on crimes against fashion? Me!"

The biggest offense, hands down: clothes that don't fit properly, Gunn says. And, if he had the truly incredible power to remove one item from closets all around the world, no question it would be Crocs.

"It's the No. 1 fashion crime item -- and I see it a lot," Gunn says.

Mystery no more: Gordy to write 'Moonwalk' intro

2009-08-13T16:42:27Z

Motown founder Berry Gordy will write the introduction to a reissue of Michael Jackson's memoir, Moonwalk.

A statement released by publisher Harmony Books says Gordy, whose label also featured superstars such as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, will offer memories of Jackson as a child star and of the group formed with his brothers, the Jackson 5.

The Jackson 5 broke through 40 years ago with the No. 1 smash "I Want You Back," and had several other hits before fading in the mid-1970s. Michael Jackson, who died June 25, eventually left Motown and made his record-breaking "Thriller" album for Sony.

Jackson's memoir, originally published in 1988, comes out again in October.

Julia outselling Julie

2009-08-10T19:44:58Z

It seems Meryl Streep's portrayal of the larger-than-life Julia Child in the new film "Julie & Julia" has not only helped propel the late TV chef's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, to the top of the book charts again, but also is eclipsing Amy Adams' portrayal of Julie Powell, author of the book upon which the movie is based.

Today on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com today, a $40 hardcover edition of Child's hefty cookbook -- first published 50 years ago -- topped the best-seller lists, easily outselling the paperback version of Julie & Julia, Powell's memoir about her year trying to cook every recipe in Child's book.

The movie flips back and forth between the the life of Child, as she becomes the French chef and cookbook author that we all knew from TV, and Powell, a New Yorker writing a blog while she attempts to "master the art of French cooking" in her tiny kitchen in her Queens apartment.

Critics, who have not been wowed by the film, have found the "Julia" story more interesting than the "Julie" story, and they're right. I saw the film over the weekend and I enjoyed it very much, though I'd have much preferred to watch Meryl Streep in a complete biopic of just Julia Child.

Chimp memoir on Booker long list

2009-07-28T19:02:54Z

The purported autobiography of a movie-star chimpanzee is among the contenders for Britain's most prestigious literary award.

Me Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood is one of 13 novels on the Booker Prize longlist.

Originally published anonymously, James Lever's book claims to tell the life story of the chimp who gained 1930s Hollywood stardom in "Tarzan" movies.

Other contenders announced Tuesday are former Booker winners A.S. Byatt and J.M Coetzee, as well as Adam Foulds, Sarah Hall, Samantha Harvey, Hilary Mantel, Simon Mawer, Ed O'Loughlin, James Scudamore, Sarah Waters, William Trevor and Colm Toibin.

The shortlist will be announced Sept. 8 and the winner of the 50,000 pound (about $82,000) prize on Oct. 6.

The Booker is open to writers from Britain, Ireland or the Commonwealth.

Who's the Michael Jackson memoir mystery celeb?

2009-07-24T21:54:11Z

When Random House reissues Michael Jackson's 1988 memoir, Moonwalk, in October, it will include an introduction by a mystery celebrity.

Harmony Books, the Random House imprint re-releasing the book, will divulge only that the mystery celeb is "a well-known figure in the entertainment industry who was close to Michael."

That could be any one of a number of folks -- Quincy Jones, Brook Shields, Lisa Marie Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross. Deepak Chopra, perhaps? Maybe it's his sister, Janet Jackson.

As much as I might like to read some more of Lisa Marie Presley's ramblings about their life together, I'd put my money on Jones or Ross. They've both known Michael Jackson since he was a child star and would both lend a bit of class to the project.

Proceeds from the book, which has been out of print for more than 10 years, will go to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, and to charity.

E. Lynn Harris dies at 54

2009-07-24T18:14:59Z

Author E. Lynn Harris. (Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)

Author E. Lynn Harris died while on tour promoting his latest book, Basketball Jones. The openly gay, African-American novelist was 54.

Ex-Miss California gets book deal

2009-07-20T20:21:45Z

The former Miss California who was stripped of her title last month has a book deal.

Carrie Prejean will publish a memoir called Still Standing. Conservative book house Regnery Publishing said Monday that it will release the book.

Prejean believes her crown was taken because she said she opposed gay marriage. California pageant executive director Keith Lewis has said that Prejean was skipping Miss California USA events while speaking out against gay marriage at unsanctioned appearances.

Prejean was replaced by the Miss California pageant's first runner-up, Tami Farrell. Farrell has also said she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Michael Connelly Q&A

2009-06-30T20:32:11Z

Michael Connelly (AP photo)

Author Michael Connelly goes back to the news biz in his latest thriller, The Scarecrow (read Sun-Times review here), revisiting Los Angeles Times reporter Jack McEvoy, the hero of his 1996 novel The Poet.

Connelly, a former L.A. Timesman himself, did a little Q&A with the Associated Press, where he talked about the book and the current state of journalism.

Q: Did the idea for the new book just come to you or did you intentionally delve into it because of the state of journalism?

A: It was a little bit of both. I worked at three different papers in my career and I was hearing about cutbacks and buyouts and all that stuff at all the papers. Eventually word comes to your door. I heard from people who were pushed out or eventually took the buyouts, so on somewhat of a personal level it started to come close to me. And I'm also a big fan of the show "The Wire," and in their last season they had a B theme on the newspaper business. And watching that show I thought, well, I should check in on ... Jack McEvoy to see what he's been up to and kind of write a story about him that obviously would serve as a thriller first, then open up a window on what's happening in this business.

Q: Do you miss your days as a reporter?

A: I feel I'm functioning at some level as a journalist because even though I write fiction, I'm trying to get the world accurate. I act pretty much like a reporter. I'm trying to get the physical side of L.A., the places the story takes the reader, right. I go out there with my notebook and take pictures, take notes. So that function is still there. Deep in my heart it still feels like I'm a journalist even though I haven't worked for a paper and carried a press pass for 14 years.

Q: Does switching characters once in a while refresh things for you?

A: It does. I really think Harry Bosch is my main focus as a writer, but I can't write about him all the time. I think that's a quick way to end the series, to be 24-7 Harry Bosch. I need to take breaks, recharge the batteries on him. But I'm a writer. I don't like taking the year off from writing and recharging Harry. I'd rather just pursue something else, a different character. And there are things I want to write about that don't necessarily fit in the police detective type of story.

Q: Journalism is very different from when you were a reporter. What's your opinion on the state of the business?

A: When I wrote this book, my first draft was pretty much writing it from my experience, but I hadn't been a reporter for 14 years. So I ended up with this story and I showed it to some people who were in the business currently at the L.A. Times. They all said, 'You know, it's a good thriller but it's not like the business is now. It's changed since you've gone. You haven't even been in a newsroom in 10 years.' So I ended up being a reporter again. I interviewed them to find out how it's changed and tried to incorporate some of the new technology and all that into it. As far as my opinion goes, one of the reasons I wrote this story is it's a lament or a torch song for this shift in society where the newspapers are in this downward spiral. Hopefully it's not a death spiral. I don't know. I think there'd be huge losses if there weren't newspapers. I know everything's shifting to the Internet and some people would say, News is news, what you're talking about is a change of consumption, not the product that's out there.' But I think there is a change. A newspaper is the center of a community, it's one of the tent poles of the community, and that's not going to be replaced by Web sites and blogs.

Local authors among Great Lakes finalists

2009-06-24T21:15:30Z

Among the finalists for the 2009 Great Lakes Book Awards are several Chicago area authors. To be eligible for the Great Lakes Book Awards, books must have a Great Lakes theme or setting or be written by an author living in the region and have been published between June 2008 and the end of May 2009. The winners will be announced in late August and awards presented in October in Cleveland. Following is a list of all finalists. (Local authors' books marked with *)

FICTION
* Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (Random House)
* The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno (W.W. Norton)
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)
* Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Simon & Schuster)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Harper Collins)

GENERAL
Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Michael Perry (Harper Collins)
* The Foie Gras Wars by Mark Caro (Simon & Schuster)
Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton (Simon & Schuster)
* Ripped by Greg Kot (Simon & Schuster)
A Splintered History of Wood by Spike Carlsen (Harper Collins)

CHILDREN'S CHAPTER BOOKS
After the Trains by Gloria Whelan (Harper Collins)
* The Blind Faith Hotel by Pamela Todd (Simon & Schuster)
* I Put a Spell on You by Adam Selzer (Random House)
Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka (Penguin Group)
* The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming (Random House)
My Brother Abe: Sally Lincoln's Story by Harry Mazer (Simon & Schuster)

CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS
Baby Dragon by Amy Ehrlich and Will Hillenbrand (Illus.) (Candlewick Press)
Birds by Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek (Illus.), (Harper Collins)
Old Bear by Kevin Henkes (Harper Collins)
That Book Woman by Heather Henson and David Small (Illus.) (Simon & Schuster)
The Underwear Salesman by J. Patrick Lewis and Serge Bloch (Illus.) (Simon & Schuster)

Father's Day gift ideas

2009-06-17T15:03:20Z

Here are a few books that have come through the Book Room in the last few weeks that might make good Father's Day gifts.

NONFICTION
The Man's Book: The Essential Guide For the Modern Man (Little, Brown, 229 pages, $23.99) by Thomas Fink. From the guy who brought you 85 Ways to Tie a Tie comes this handy little guide to manhood. A man can learn the proper ways to dress, the ins and outs of smoking, how to choose a best man, eight ways to tie one's shoelaces and, perhaps most important, how to properly carve meat. It covers not only turkey, beef and ham, but also partridge, grouse and mutton. There is an entire chapter on James Bond -- and before you go thinking this is some kind of old fashioned how-to guide, the very next chapter is on text messaging.

SPORTS
The Golf Guru: Answers to Golf's Most Perplexing Questions (Quirk Books, 207 pages, $18.95) by John Barton. The author, who writes a column for Golf Digest, answers questions both general and specific about the popular pastime. For example: "Why do golf courses have 18 holes?" and "If Tiger Woods wears white socks with black shoes, why can't I?" Arnold Palmer wrote the foreword.

KIDS
How to Talk to Dads (Collins, 47 pages, $9,99) by Alec Greven. The 10-year-old who last year caused a sensation with his How to Talk to Girls book now is cashing in on this little volume. In the introduction, young Alec tells us, "Don't worry. You will find out everything you need to know about Dad right in this book." Oh, if only it were that simple. (One must remember that the author is only 10.) I suppose this book would be better for kids Alec's age, but I could see youngsters giving this to their dads in hopes of pleasing him.

MILITARY MEMOIR
Last Journey: A Father and Son in Wartime (Atlas & Co., 304 pages, $25) by Darrell Griffin Sr. and Darrell "Skip" Griffin Jr. The book is a tribute to the younger Griffin, an Army staff sergeant who was killed in action on March 21, 2007, during his third tour of duty in Iraq. He was 36 years old. After his son's death, Griffin Sr. persuaded the Army to embed him with Skip's unit in Iraq so he could experience the war firsthand with the men who fought beside his son. The finished book provides a glimpse into the conflict and includes Skip's e-mail correspondence, photographs and excerpts from his journals.

MEMOIR
Go Ask Your Father: One Man's Obsession with Finding HIs Origins Through DNA Testing (Bantam, 227 pages, $25) by Lennard J. Davis. The author plays detective in the story of his own life. When Davis' father dies, his uncle tells him that he is his biological father, through artificial insemination in the late 1940s. The story unfolds into a personal journey for the author as he tries to unravel the truth, and also a history of sorts of artificial insemination in America.

FICTION
The Nine Lessons: A Novel of Love, Fatherhood, and Second Chances (Center Street, 223 pages, $14.99) by Kevin Alan Milne. A man named August Witte is terrified when he finds out he's going to be a father. His mother died when he was a toddler and his father was seemingly happier on the golf course than at home. Nevertheless, August agrees to monthly golf lessons with his father, during the pregnancy, and ends up learning as much about life as about golf.

Another Obama-related book deal

2009-06-15T13:35:25Z

Another Obama relative has a book deal.

A memoir by George Obama, the president's half brother and a resident of Huruma, Kenya, will be published by Simon & Schuster in January 2010. George Obama, 27, shares the same father with his famous, older half sibling, although George and Barack Obama -- 20 years apart in age -- did not grow up together and did not meet as children.

George is the youngest of the senior Obama's seven children and was born six months before his father died.

Little is known about George Obama. The book, tentatively titled Homeland and to be written with author-journalist Damien Lewis, will tell of George Obama's fall into crime and poverty as a teenager and his eventual embrace of community organizing -- a passion shared by the president -- and of advocacy for the poor, an identification so strong that he chooses to live among them.

"Even had George Obama not been our President's half brother, his story is moving and inspirational," said David Rosenthal, Simon & Schuster publisher and executive vice president. "It is an object lesson in survival, selflessness and courage."

Financial terms were not disclosed, but an official with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal was worth six figures. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the contract, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Other Obama relatives are working on books, including a half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng; and the brother of first lady Michelle Obama, Craig Robinson. Duke University Press is releasing the doctoral dissertation of the president's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995.

Barack Obama has written a pair of million-selling books, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father, in which he describes George Obama as "a handsome, roundheaded boy with a wary gaze."