Judith Regan, undaunted by the O.J. Simpson book fiasco is hard at work on yet another annoying project. Publisher's Weekly reports:
7: The Mickey Mantle Novel, described by its author, Peter Golenbock, as an "inventive memoir" and by others who have seen the galley as something tantamount to pornography, is likely to evoke charges of bad taste and questionable ethics when it is published in March in a 60,000-copy first printing. It may even occasion claims of libel, according to publishing lawyers.
Two media insiders who have read the galley, each of whom asked not to be identified by name, used words like "porn," "debased," "exploitative" and "vile" to describe the book's contents. One of them said the book left him "speechless."
In the novel, Golenbock, author of dozens of sports titles, tells Mantle's story in the first person—"in Mickey's own words," as he said by telephone to PW, "so that readers will get a better idea of who Mickey was."
She's going to destroy the memory of Mickey Mantle in an "imagined memoir"? Is that really necessary? Baseball fans will not be amused. You can read a few puerile excerpts here, if you must. We're not impressed in the least.
