Dutton Wins Dunham
In her first buy for Dutton, new executive editor Carrie Thornton won a multiple-bidder, two-day auction for comedian-ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's untitled memoir; Peter McGuigan at Foundry made the mid-six-figure North American rights sale. Dunham's account of his life and career will include commentary and other interruptions from his characters. Dunham has sold more than 3.5 million DVDs combined of his Comedy Central Specials Arguing with Myself and Spark of Insanity. Tentative pub date is fall 2009.
Opium Confessions
Random executive editor Susanna Porter beat two other bidders for world rights to Opium Fiend: A 21st Century Slave to a 19th Century Addiction. This memoir and narrative history by an American writer, anonymous for now, living in Southeast Asia, will describe how he became an expert on rare 19th-century opium-smoking paraphernalia, but eventually succumbed to a 30-pipe-a-day addiction. William Clark made the sale, and the book will be published by the Villard imprint.
Child Reups with Doubleday
Lincoln Child has just signed a new three-book deal with Doubleday executive editor Jason Kaufman; Eric Simonoff at Janklow & Nesbit sold world rights. No info yet on titles or plot lines, but the books will continue in the science/techno-thriller vein for which Child is known. Child's next novel, Terminal Freeze, will come out next month. The first book in this new contract is tentatively scheduled for 2010.
Rosenblatt to Ecco
Ecco publisher Dan Halpern has signed Roger Rosenblatt to write a memoir, Making Toast, based on the author's essay that appeared in the New Yorker in December. The book will trace the year following his adult daughter's sudden death, as Rosenblatt and his wife become parents again to several small children. Gloria Loomis at Watkins Loomis sold world rights, and Ecco will publish in summer 2010.
Donatella's Debut
Pam Krauss has acquired the first book by restaurateur and television personality Donatella Arpaia for her new line of cookbooks at Rodale; Michael Psaltis at the Culinary Cooperative/Regal Literary made the world rights sale. Tentatively titled Dinner with Donatella, the book is described as the overachiever's guide to giving a party; Arpaia will share more than 100 recipes for dishes she's prepared in her own home, taking readers through the steps of food, music, drink and decor to provide blueprints for anyone with a penchant for entertaining.
Taylor Signs with Harper
Justin Taylor, 26, has just made a deal with Michael Signorelli at Harper Perennial for two books. The first is a collection of stories, Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever, to be followed by an untitled novel. Taylor's short story “The Jealousy of Angels” was anthologized in Best of the Web 2008 and his essay “Fort Smith, Arkansas—A Monologue” was cited in Best American Essays 2007. Eva Talmadge at the Emma Sweeney Agency made the world English rights sale.
Barber's First
Former literary agent Virginia “Ginger” Barber, who joined Grove/Atlantic as an editor-at-large in late 2007, is about to see her first acquisition for the house into print. Home Schooling, a story collection by Carol Windley acquired by Barber early last year, will be published by Grove next month; it has been shortlisted for Canada's Giller Prize and came recommended to Barber by Alice Munro. The two-book deal, which also includes a novel-in-progress, was negotiated by Marc Cote at Cormant Books, Windley's Canadian publisher. Grove has world rights except for Canada.
Corsi Staub to Avon
Wendy Corsi Staub, who has published more than 30 books with Kensington over the last 15 years, will move to Avon for three new ones; Lucia Macro acquired world English rights in a major deal with Laura Blake Peterson at Curtis Brown. The first novel in the deal, Finders Keepers, will be published in 2010, to be followed by its sequel, Losers Weepers, and an as yet untitled third novel. Staub's last book with Kensington, Dead Before Dark, will come out this April.
The Author and the Dictator
Claiborne Hancock and Jessica Case at Pegasus bought world English rights to Fidel & Gabo: A Portrait of the Legendary Friendship Between Gabriel García Márquez and Fidel Castro by Angel Esteban and Stephanie Panichelli, via Jonah Straus. A bestseller in Spain, the book chronicles the strange and controversial friendship between the Nobel Prize winner and the dictator. For years, Castro rejected García Márquez's overtures before deciding the author was a genius; to this day, García Márquez gives Castro first look at all of his manuscripts. Esteban is a professor of Latin American literature at the University of Granada, and Panichelli teaches at Wingate University in North Carolina. Pub date is September 2009.
