| News | ||||||||
Book News: Modern Times, Murky Issues Bridget Kinsella -- 12/11/00 Ecco Press pushes the bi thics debate with a philosopher's views spanning 30 years
But it is his work in the realm of bi thics involving humans--particularly his support of euthanasia, not just for the elderly and the infirm but for disabled infants--that really ignites passionate debate. Singer's supporters claim that critics condemn his views without understanding them. Now, hoping to set the record straight, this month HarperCollins' Ecco Press published Writings on an Ethical Life, a collection that canvasses much of Singer's thinking. "For a publicist working on a book like this the question is, 'who is going to call?'" Ecco's Justin L ber told PW. "Everybody has called." The media outlets interested in Singer's newest book are as varied as Charlie Rose, the New York Times, the Economist and Fox News, to pick just a few off of Ecco's media hit list. PW's review described Singer as "one of the most innovative, sensitive and honest philosophers" and called him a utilitarian who "argues that the consequences of an act should determine our ethical decisions (Forecasts, Nov. 27)." NBC's Nightly News with Tom Brokaw had him on to discuss the presidential election and the enviro-ethics likely in the George W. Bush administration. This is not the first time Singer has been in the news. Last fall, when Princeton University named the Australian philosopher its Bi thics chair, the appointment met with protests and much media scrutiny. Some say the media vilified Singer, taking his arguments out of context. "For most of the media it was 'Doctor Death Comes to Princeton,'" recalled Singer from his office at the university. This time, he said, he feels he is getting fairer treatment. "The media have been interested in the issues, and that's good," he said. "The debate on bi thics is bound to continue--with the human genome project, end-of-life machines and used organs, all of those issues--and I'd like to see it on a level that is less emotional and more ethical." Still, it was the media fallout at the time of his appointment and what he saw as inaccurate and incomplete public perception of his work that prompted him to try and set the record straight. "I felt is was important to get the essence of what I was trying to say on a range of issues into one volume," said Singer. He got that chance from Ecco founder and publisher Dan Halpern. Halpern heard about Singer's appointment and the controversy surrounding it while traveling in Europe. A Princeton resident, and always the curious publisher, Halpern told PW that he immediately had two thoughts when he read about Singer in the International Herald Tribune: that he should meet this person who had inflamed so much controversy and, perhaps, do a book with him. Already familiar with Singer's work on animal liberation, Halpern boned up on his other views. Over the years, Singer has written and edited several books on philosophy and ethics. "The sore points for people are his writings on euthanasia and impaired infants," Halpern told PW. "They imagine he is trying to mandate killing without cause. What it really comes down to is suffering--that g s through all of his writings." In publishing Writings on an Ethical Life, Halpern said, "at least people will be responding to what he's said, and not what others have said about him." Up until this point, Singer's work has been published by small and university presses, including Oxford University Press, and some booksellers think, coming from a Harper imprint, Writings could be his breakout book. Ecco reports that, even before publication, Writings has gone back to press, for a total of 30,000 copies. "As I got into the project, it occurred to me that this is a book that is going to go further than I thought it would," said Halpern. It is the kind of title the staff at Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor is eager to handsell. In a recent phone conversation with PW, Singer's work inspired a lively exchange between store owner Karl Phort and events coordinator Ray McDaniel. "The value of this [book] is in engaging the cultural conversation. That's what public intellectuals are supposed to do, and it's a gift to everyone," offered Phort. McDaniel added that it is an important and necessary conversation. "Even disagreeing with him advances the course of that conversation," he said. "[The book] establishes a landscape for his consistent ethical framework, so people will be able to make use of the entire tableau of his reasoning." People are not always reasonable where Singer is concerned. Joyce Carol Oates, a colleague of Singer's in Princeton's humanities department, told PW that she has seen first-hand the anger with which participants in public events have approached Singer and his ideas. When Oates was preparing a recent Share Our Strength event at the local Barnes & Noble (she is this year's honorary chair for the bookstore chain's charitable program), she thought it the appropriate and neutral setting to present Singer to the community. "Feelings run so high," she said. "That's why this book is so important, because it will really inspire people to sit down and read and understand." Oates described Singer as a philosopher who applies careful, ethical thinking to each problem. She explained, "He says repeatedly that there are gray areas. He is not putting everything into black-and-white terms. But that's what his critics have done to him." Columnist Nat Hentoff was teaching a journalism class at the time of Singer's much-debated appointment. He was a critic of Singer then and remains one now. Despite a few noted changes, Hentoff said, the work in Writings on an Ethical Life is consistent with Singer's long-standing views on ethical issues--views Hentoff characterizes as dangerous. "The context is still the same: some lives are not worth living," he said. Hentoff recently interviewed Singer and will be writing about his latest book for Legal Times, the United Media Syndicate and possibly the Village Voice. The two men had what Hentoff described as a "cordial conversation" on the day the Netherlands became the first government since Nazi Germany to legalize euthanasia. While Singer applauded the Dutch Parliament, Hentoff--who acknowledged that Singer's own grandparents perished in the camps and was not implying the philosopher was insensitive to the Holocaust suffering--cautioned that the Nazi atrocities stemmed from "small beginnings" in reasoning. "I respect his right to speak, but I disagree totally with his extreme application of utilitarianism," Hentoff said. At Shaman Drum, both Phort and McDaniel said such criticisms and warnings about Singer will only help to sell the book and further the conversation on ethical issues, at a time when the philosopher's ideas about modern bi thics, the environment and world hunger are hard to ignore. Customers are already inquiring about Singer. "They've heard of him from the media," said McDaniel. "And they are curious about somebody who could provoke such a strong response." He scoffed at the assertion that Singer's writing is dangerous: "The alternative to writing that is dangerous is writing that is safe, and that, to a bookseller, is writing that d sn't sell." Ecco's Halpern likened Singer to Bertrand Russell. "He is dealing with issues and clarifying large subjects in a straightforward way," he explained. "He's not saying, 'you have to do this.' But he is saying, 'you have to think about this.' In that way, the readership is wide open."
Alvin & Calvin & Oprah Everybody knows that Oprah Winfrey can make a book with just one author appearance on her show. But now it looks like Oprah might just be playing the part of book agent herself, bringing book ideas directly to the industry. Although it's not the first time someone in publishing got an idea for a book from Oprah, such is the case with identical twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison. Appearing on
Alvin and Calvin were born in Orlando, Fla., to their 16-year-old mother. Alvin was born first, but by the time Calvin made his appearance doctors had pronounced Alvin dead. With a cry that Calvin later described as a "Call to God," Calvin seemingly brought brother Alvin back to life. Rags-to-riches is too gentle a term to describe their upbringing. Raised first by their grandmother, then bounced between Florida and northern California for more than 10 years, the brothers found themselves living out of their car in 1995 as they were competing for spots on the United States Olympic track and field team. Alvin won an Olympic gold medal in the meter relay in 1996, and this past summer in Sydney, Australia, they each captured part of the gold in the 4x400-meter relay. Hyperion has big plans for the Harrison brothers, heading out with a 75,000-copy first printing of Go to Your Destiny in anticipation of a return to the Oprah program on December 8. Hyperion is sending them on a book tour that will include book signing appearances at bookstores and Niketowns. "We can all strive to be better or to do something special," said Gretchen Young, senior editor at Hyperion, "but we can't always realize those goals, as much as we may try. When your goal is to win an Olympic gold and you are able to accomplish that goal, against all odds, you're pretty special." --Dermot McEvoy | ||||||||
Book News: Modern Times, Murky Issues
Dec 11, 2000
A version of this article appeared in the 12/11/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:
