A publisher shows respect for readers in the wake of another scandal
Somebody at Riverhead Books clearly made a disastrous blunder on the way to the publication of Love and Consequences, a memoir of gang life that has been exposed as a fake. But Riverhead’s parent company, Penguin Group USA, deserves praise for announcing that it would recall all copies of the book promptly. Penguin acted responsibly, professionally and in a way that shows respect for readers by moving swiftly to remove the book from shelves and to cancel author Margaret Seltzer’s book tour. Nobody wants more publishing scandals to erupt, but when they do, this is the way to handle them www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/books/04fake.html.
© 2008 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.
One-Minute Book Reviews 
I saw the news about this somewhere, maybe some publishing newsletter, and thought the recall made sense. Apparently, the author did a good job of appearing truthful in various contacts with the publisher over time, but still, I wonder, why the fabrication wasn’t caught earlier.
Malcolm
Comment by knightofswords — March 4, 2008 @ 11:51 pm |
Yes, you do wonder, especially given that the editor and author worked together for several years.
My sense is editors sometimes want to believe a story so badly, they suspend disbelief. This is especially true if a book has great sales potential and the author has a lot of personal charm.
Comment by 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — March 5, 2008 @ 12:27 am |