Sonny Mehta

Word from Knopf is that Sonny Mehta is still in negotiations with Andrew Wylie about what to do with The Beginners, the controversial volume of unedited, Gordon Lish-less Raymond Carver stories that Knopf originally published in 1981 as What We Talk About. Carver’s widow, Tess Gallagher, has long been trying to get The Beginners into print, arguing that it is more faithful to her late husband’s vision for his stories than the version that was published. Mr. Wylie took up the Carver account last year, after differences over the drafts project led Ms.  read more »

There was an exuberance to behold last night at the Housing Works Bookstore in Soho, where a crowd of editors, agents and other usual suspects gathered to toast the British countercultural icon and author Sebastian Horsley. Mr. Horsley has written a memoir called Dandy in the Underworld, which was published in paperback last week by Harper Perennial. He could not attend last night’s party, because when he arrived at Newark International Airport from London on Tuesday afternoon, he was not allowed entry into the United States and forced to fly home.

Word of this incident rang out immediately, and a solemn statement laying out the facts of the deportation was issued by his literary agency in England. “The flamboyant Horsley,” the press release said, “dressed in his trademark style, complete with top hat, three-piece suit and finger nail-polish, was immediately pulled aside for questioning…. It is believed the book’s content is what caused the writer’s return to the UK because of its candid and controversial account of Horsley’s extreme drug abuse, the author’s pro-prostitution views, and the author’s own self crucifixion in the Philippines in 2000.”  read more »

Carl Bernstein's next book: A biography of Hillary Clinton.

The deal is with Alfred A. Knopf, according to a press release issued this morning.

The title, A Woman In Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, seems a rather hopeful one given her current presidential bid.  read more »