Obama Signs $500,000 Book Deal
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama signed a $500,000 (£343,000) book deal five days before he entered the White House, his Senate financial disclosure report has revealed.

Crown Publishing will carry out the abridging for the president's approval. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
The deal was part of an arrangement negotiated by the lawyer Robert Barnett with Crown Publishing, a division of Random House, involving an abridged version of his book "Dreams From My Father" for children.

According to the Washington Times, half will go to Mr Obama and half to the publisher, who will carry out the abridging for the president's approval.

The deal is on top of nearly $2.5 million in book royalties paid to Mr Obama last year for "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope" memoirs. >>> By Toby Harnden in Washington | Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Jo Glanville: Respect for Religion Now Makes Censorship the Norm
THE GUARDIAN: When publishers are too intimidated to print even novels that may offend, it shows how far we've lost our way on free speech

The firebomb attack this weekend on the publishing house Gibson Square in London was an assault on one of the bravest publishers in the business. Three men were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Saturday morning, suspected of attempting to set fire to the premises. Martin Rynja, who runs Gibson Square, is due to publish Sherry Jones's novel about Mohammed's wife Aisha, The Jewel of Medina, next month. Random House had pulled out of publishing the novel in August, stating that it had been advised that "the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community" and that "it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment".

This is not the first time that Rynja, owner of a small, independent publishing house, has shown himself to have more gumption and appetite for controversy than the big boys. Four years ago, he published Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud after Random House, once again, pulled out - this time for fear of libel action. He is also the publisher of OJ Simpson's If I Did It and Alexander Litvinenko's Blowing Up Russia.

Rynja's support for free speech is proving to be exceptional, as is his courage in standing up to bullies, at a time when other publishers will surrender at any intimation of legal action - particularly from litigious Saudis. Rynja, who trained as a lawyer, has shown that capitulation need not be inevitable. I can only hope that the shocking attack on his office will not dim his determination - but he will need support.

Random House dropped The Jewel of Medina in anticipation that offence might be caused in an extraordinary instance of pre-emptive censorship. Let's remember the similarly dire predictions that were made when Geert Wilders released his provocative film Fitna, which links Islam to terrorism - it was in fact a non-event.

Yet, in this instance, the row that ensued once the story broke about Sherry Jones's novel has, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, served to escalate the very scenario that Random House was apparently seeking to avert. It is most telling that they sent a work of fiction out to academics for approval in the first place - since when was a historian, however smart and literate, a suitable judge of whether a novel should or should not be published? Surely the only grounds for publishing a novel are whether it is of literary merit? One of the academics they consulted, Denise Spellberg, was reported as saying: "You can't play with a sacred history and turn it into soft-core pornography." Why not? This is one person's subjective view of a novel - it should not be grounds for censorship. Respect for Religion Now Makes Censorship the Norm >>> Jo Glanville | September 30, 2008

Jo Glanville is editor of Index on Censorship

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>

The Jewel of Medina: Prophet’s Wife Novel to Be Released in UK
THE GUARDIAN: A novel about the child bride of the prophet Muhammad is to be released in the UK next month, after its publication was cancelled by a US publisher.

The Jewel of the Medina is by first-time novelist Sherry Jones, and was published in the US last month by a division of Random House, but was pulled after scholars of Islam objected. At the time, Random House said it had received cautionary advice that it might be offensive to some Muslims and "could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment".

Yesterday, Jones' agent, Natasha Kern, said the rights had been bought in 10 countries, including by Gibson Square in the UK. In a statement, the firm's publisher, Martin Rynja, said: "I was completely bowled over by the novel and the moving love story it portrays. The Jewel of Medina has become an important barometer of our time. "

As the story of Muhammad's favourite wife, Aisha, the novel is criticised as being provocative and historically inaccurate by academics. Denise Spellberg, who teaches Islamic history at the University of Texas at Austin, described it as "soft core pornography".

But Random House's decision to pull the book sparked intense criticism from critics and literary bloggers, who compared the case to Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses.

Kern said that Gibson Square had been chosen because it of its past experience of controversial books - last year, it published OJ Simpson's hypothetical account of the murder of his ex-wife.

In August, a Serbian publisher quickly withdrew an edition of The Jewel of Medina from shops after protests from local Islamic leaders who said it insulted Muhammad and his family. [The Guardian] By Martin Hodgson | September 4, 2008

ZEIT ONLINE:
''Das Juwel von Medina'': Mohammed-Roman wird veröffentlicht: Ein umstrittener Mohammed-Roman, der in den USA und Serbien aus Angst vor Protesten von Muslimen zurückgezogen wurde, kommt in den britischen Buchhandel.

"Das Juwel von Medina" ("The Jewel of Medina") der US-Journalistin Sherry Jones über die junge Ehefrau des Propheten Mohammed soll im Oktober auf den Markt kommen, teilte der unabhängige Verlag Gibson Square mit. "In einer offenen Gesellschaft muss es ungeachtet der Furcht freien Zugang zu Literatur geben", sagte Verlagsmitarbeiter Martin Rynja. Andernfalls sei es ein "Rückfall ins finstere Mittelalter". Der Verlag ist für die Veröffentlichung politisch brisanter Bücher bekannt. >>> | 4. September 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Controversial Book about Mohammed and Child Bride to Be Published: A controversial novel about the prophet Mohammed and his child bride that was pulled by Random House over concerns that it would anger Muslims is to be printed by another publisher

…"that one of the biggest publishing houses in the world refuses to publish a book because of warnings is a sobering comment on the state of freedom of speech in the USA." – Sherry Jones, Washington >>> By Tom Peterkin | September 4, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>

Die Selbstzensur des westlichen Kulturbetriebs aus Angst vor radikalen Muslimen geht weiter
Buchüberzug dank dem Jörg Lau und der Welt
DIE ZEIT/Jörg Lau Blog: Die Verlagsgruppe Random House (i.e. Bertelsmann) hat die Publikation eines Romans über Mohammed und seine Lieblingsfrau Aischa gestoppt, nachdem eine Islamwissenschaftlerin vor den Reaktionen von Muslimen gewarnt hatte, deren religiöse Gefühle verletzt werden könnten.

Den ganzen Fall kann man hier im Wall Street Journal lesen. Oder auch hier.

Es ist einfach nur noch deprimierend. Man weiß nicht mehr, ob man mehr über die Inkompetenz oder die Feigheit dieser Verlagsleute schimpfen soll.

Wer braucht überhaupt eine Expertin, um zu wissen, dass eine Mohammed-Aischa-Geschichte heisser Stoff ist? Nach Rushdie, den Karikaturen, Idomeneo?

Also: entweder nimmt man so etwas in Angriff, steht dazu und zieht es durch. Wenn denn das Buch gut ist. Und da es vor der Publikation stand und schon eine Werbereise für den August geplant war, muss man doch annehmen, dass die verlagsinterne Meinungsbildung zu einem positiven Schluss gekommen war.

Oder: Man läßt es lieber.

Aber jetzt auf diese dämliche Art den Kulturdschihadisten eine Plattform gegeben zu haben, das ist einfach unglaublich! Eine Khomeini-treue Organsation “Husaini-Youth” rühmt sich nun, den Propheten vor erneuerter Schändung bewahrt zu haben.

Dabei hatte die Autorin Sherry Jones offenbar nichts dergleichen im Sinn.

Hier die feige Erklärung von Random House.

Deprimierend. Wo sind die anständigen Muslime, die gegen diesen Kulturdschihadismus aufstehen?
Hier ist eine, aber sie hat auch nicht viel ermutigende Neuigkeiten.

Der Geist der vorauseilenden Selbstzensur, der sich in den westlichen Köpfen festzusetzen droht, ist beängstigend. Die Muslime müssen dagegen arbeiten, wenn sie nicht eines Tages einen fürchterlichen Backlash erleben wollen, weil in ihrem Namen Freiheiten beschnitten werden, die über Jahrhunderte unter vielen Opfern erstritten wurden. [Quelle: Die Selbstzensur des westlichen Kulturbetriebs aus Angst vor radikalen Muslimen geht weiter] Von Jörg Lau | 15. August 2008

Zum Jörg Laus Blog >>>

ZEIT ONLINE:
Islam-Kritik: Proteste gegen Stopp von Mohammed-Roman >>> 19. August 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) >>>

Robert Spencer: Random House and the Islamic War against Free Speech
FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE: Although when Random House canceled publication of Sherry Jones’ trashy novel about Muhammad’s nine-year-old wife, Aisha, it was succumbing not to actual threats but to the sheer prospect of threats, no one has accused the venerable publisher of “Islamophobia.” Even in today’s hyper-politically correct public square, everyone seems to take for granted that when certain Muslims don’t like something, they threaten to murder the people involved. Random House’s pre-emptive self-censorship constitutes tacit recognition of what Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of Organization of the Islamic Conference, recently termed the “red lines that should not be crossed” -- lines he was dictating to the West. “In confronting the Danish cartoons and the Dutch film ‘Fitna’,” Ihsanoglu declared, “we sent a clear message to the West regarding the red lines that should not be crossed. As we speak, the official West and its public opinion are all now well aware of the sensitivities of these issues. They have also started to look seriously into the question of freedom of expression from the perspective of its inherent responsibility, which should not be overlooked.”

Random House paid $100,000 for Sherry Jones’ racy historical novel about Muhammad and his nine-year-old wife, Aisha, The Jewel of Medina, only to withdraw the book just days before its scheduled August 12 publication date. Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry explained that they decided to drop the book after receiving, “from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” They decided “to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel.”

Sherry Jones is an unlikely candidate to be the next Salman Ruhdie, and her novel is hardly in the same league as Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ film Fitna, which vividly depicted Muslims acting upon the dictates of the Qur’an’s violent passages. The Jewel of Medina, by contrast, is a Harlequin Romance-level trivialization of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, luridly depicting the child as finding, at the moment of the consummation of her marriage to Muhammad, “the bliss I had longed for all my life” – yes, her entire nine years. Random House and the Islamic War against Free Speech >>> By Robert Spencer | August 22, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>

How Is Islam Not Already Controlling the US?

Part 2
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>