Reinforcing the old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity, Publishers Weekly reports today that St. Martin's is reprinting Scooter Libby's novel:
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's has had a change of heart about publication plans for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby’s novel, The Apprentice. Last week, the company said it had no intention of bringing back the title, which it released in paperback in January 2003 (PW Daily, October 31). Prompted by news that the book was now bringing a pretty penny on the Internet, St. Martin's said this morning that it will print 25,000 copies of the trade paperback with plans to ship the book on November 18. It should be available in stores by November 25, according to John Karle, St. Martin's associate director of publicity.
Libby, the former chief-of-staff to Vice President Richard Cheney, is presently under indictment in the Valeria Plame CIA leak inquiry for obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury. The Apprentice is set in 1903 Japan and contains some very imaginative sexual scenarios, written in the same flowery prose made famous by Libby's note to Judith Miller of the New York Times. Though out-of-print until now, it has drawn considerable attention since Libby's indictment, with a copy reportedly being offered for sale by an individual for $2,400 on Amazon.com.
According to PW's review, the book is actually supposed to be pretty good. It's a shame, though, that the only way an author (assuming we can call Libby one) is ever going to get on the front page of the newspaper is to be indicted. Still, a prison term would at least provide the opportunity to do a little hands-on research.
