WikiLeaks founder’s ill-starred book was offered as a project to the novelist, who decided ‘two control freaks’ should not collaborate
The two-time Booker-winning novelist Peter Carey turned down the opportunity to ghost the memoirs of his fellow Australian – and WikiLeaks founder – Julian Assange, he has revealed.
Speaking to the Bookseller, Carey said that he was approached by his American editor Sonny Mehta and asked if he would like to co-write the book. “But I thought, no. Two control freaks? It wouldn’t work,” he told the books magazine.
Assange’s memoir was eventually ghostwritten by the novelist Andrew O’Hagan, but the WikiLeaks founder pulled out of the deal at the final hour, with publisher Canongate going on to release the book as an “unauthorised autobiography”. O’Hagan shed light on the arrangement in a revelatory London Review of Books essay earlier this year. “The story of his life mortified him and sent him scurrying for excuses,” wrote O’Hagan. “He didn’t want to do the book. He hadn’t from the beginning.”
Carey’s own forthcoming new novel, Amnesia, is out in November, and deals with a young Australian hacker who releases the “Angel Worm” into Australia’s prisons, unlocking their doors as well as those of some 5,000 American jails. The title, the Bookseller reveals, refers to “Australians collectively forgetting they are an American client state, run roughshod over by the superpower”.
More
Speaking to the Bookseller, Carey said that he was approached by his American editor Sonny Mehta and asked if he would like to co-write the book. “But I thought, no. Two control freaks? It wouldn’t work,” he told the books magazine.
Assange’s memoir was eventually ghostwritten by the novelist Andrew O’Hagan, but the WikiLeaks founder pulled out of the deal at the final hour, with publisher Canongate going on to release the book as an “unauthorised autobiography”. O’Hagan shed light on the arrangement in a revelatory London Review of Books essay earlier this year. “The story of his life mortified him and sent him scurrying for excuses,” wrote O’Hagan. “He didn’t want to do the book. He hadn’t from the beginning.”
Carey’s own forthcoming new novel, Amnesia, is out in November, and deals with a young Australian hacker who releases the “Angel Worm” into Australia’s prisons, unlocking their doors as well as those of some 5,000 American jails. The title, the Bookseller reveals, refers to “Australians collectively forgetting they are an American client state, run roughshod over by the superpower”.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment