(ANSA) - NEW YORK, APRIL 28 - In a sensational decision, the publishing house of the biography of Philip Roth permanently put it out of print after accusations of sexual abuse against its author, Blake Bailey.
WW Norton announced the new decision after distribution and promotion of the biography was suspended last week.
It is unclear what will happen with the still unsold printed copies and the audiobook version. The biography, published on April 6 in a first circulation of 50,000 copies, is all available on the Amazon website. The publishing house has also put out of print with immediate effect 'The Splendid Things WePlanned', the memoir of Bailey released in 2014, but the biograph is freed from the exclusivity and "if you want you can look for a publisher elsewhere", a memo reads to the staff. in which Norton president Julia Reidhead announces a donation equal to the "six-figure" advance Bailey received to organizations that advocate for victims of sexual harassment.
"Philip Roth: The Biography" had landed two weeks in the list of best-selling books. For Bailey, who worked there for years having had full access to relatives, friends, former lovers, journals, letters and other archival documents, it was the pinnacle of biographical work.
Putting a successful book out of print after publication is highly unusual. The decision not to publish is more frequent, like when Hachett put the memoir of Woody Allen "About nothing" to the index last year after the return to the fore of the accusations of his adopted daughter Dylan of having molested her as a child. (HANDLE).
