Hyperion editor-in-chief Will Balliett has acquired a new book by Jimmy Breslin, to be an account of the Rod Blagojevich scandal; David Black sold North American rights. In the satirical spirit of Breslin’s 1969 The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (but nonfiction), the book will work backwards to conjure a world of Chicago politics in which being Illinois governor gives one a higher chance of going to jail than does robbing a liquor store, and will feature a cast of characters that “only Jimmy Breslin could have invented,” said Balliett.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Breslin is the author of numerous books, most recently the collection of mob pieces, The Good Rat, published last year by Ecco. Hyperion plans to publish the yet-to-be-titled book in October 2010. The former governor's own account of his experiences is due out from Phoenix Books this fall.
