Faber to publish Cowell biography

Bookseller.com  15.12.11 | Benedicte Page

Faber is to publish a "definitive" biography of entertainment mogul Simon Cowell by journalist Tom Bower, whose biography of Bernie Ecclestone came out with the publisher earlier this year.
Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell will be out in May 2012, and is "the result of hundreds of hours of unprecedented access to Cowell, plus direct contributions from his many supporters and rivals", Faber said.
UK and Commonwealth rights were acquired by publisher Stephen Page from Jonathan Lloyd of Curtis Brown, with Angus Cargill set to edit. The book will be published simultaneously in the US by Ballantine Books at Random House.
Sweet Revenge is said to offer a "detailed insider's account" of Cowell's rise to fame "and all of the controversial highs and lows along the way as he settles scores with rivals", with "juicy details, hard-to-get interviews and never-before-revealed facts".
Page said: "Sweet Revenge is the biography for anyone interested in music, pop culture and business, and the millions of 'X Factor' and Simon Cowell fans."
Bower, a former producer and reporter for the BBC, is the author of 19 books, including biographies of Robert Maxwell, Mohamed Fayed, Gordon Brown, Richard Branson and Conrad Black.
Cowell's own memoir, I Don't Mean to be Rude But . . ., was published by Ebury in 2003, selling 106,000 copies to date through Nielsen BookScan
Allen & Unwin will publish the title in Australia and New Zealand simultaneously with Faber in May 2012. One to look forward to.