Random House, Inc. has announced that Knopf is publishing former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s memoir, out in September.

“Tony Blair: The Journey will break new ground in prime ministerial memoirs just as Blair himself broke the mould of British politics,” said Gail Rebuck, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Random House Group.  “His book is frank, open, revealing, and written in an intimate and accessible style.  As an account of the nature and uses of power, it will have a readership that extends well beyond politics, to all those who want to understand the challenge of leadership in today’s world.” 

Be sure to add this one to your lists for your politically focused patrons! 

  Spring 2010 Drop-In from Crown Publishers

 OPRAH

By Kitty Kelley

Based on three years of research and reporting as well as 850 interviews with sources, many of whom have never before spoken for publication, Oprah is the first comprehensive biography of one of the most influential, powerful, and admired public figures of our time, by the most widely read biographer of our era. Anyone who is a fan of Oprah Winfrey or who has followed her extraordinary life and career will be fascinated and newly informed by the closely observed, detailed, and well-rounded portrait of her provided by Kitty Kelley’s exhaustively researched book. Readers will come away with a greater appreciation of who Oprah really is beyond her public persona and a fuller understanding of her important place in American cultural history.

Among the awards that Kitty Kelley has been honored with by her professional peers are the Outstanding Author Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors for her “courageous writing on popular culture,” the Philip M. Stern Award for her “outstanding service to writers and the writing profession,” the Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club in New York City, and the 2005 PEN Oakland Literary Censorship Award. She has also been selected as a member of Vanity Fair magazine’s Hall of Fame. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Ladies’ Home Journal, McCall’s, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune.

On sale 4/13/10 | HC | 9780307394866 | 600,000| $30.00 US / $37.00 CAN

The movie tie-in edition of Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin has just been announced!  It will pub in January, just in time for the HBO movie, Temple Grandin, airing in February.  It has a star studded cast, with Claire Danes (as Temple Grandin), Julia Ormond, Catherine O’Hara, and David Strathairn.

NEW HBO TIE-IN EDITION will feature key art from the film

“Extraordinary, unprecedented. . . . A deeply moving and fascinating book.” —Oliver Sacks

“There are innumerable astounding facets to this remarkable book.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A uniquely fascinating view. . . with insights that can only be called wisdom.”  —Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don’t Understand

Temple Grandin is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of scientist and autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function and excel in the outside world.

The only autobiography by the King of Pop himself. Since Michael Jackson’s untimely death in June, there has been a surge of public adoration and interest in the legendary entertainer. His albums continue to lead record sales – he is quickly becoming the bestselling recording artist of the year. Celebrations of his singularly brilliant career and interest in his intensely private life continue to dominate the media.

ONE AND ONLY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: This is the only book about his life that Michael Jackson ever wrote. He chronicles his humble beginnings in the Midwest, his early days with the Jackson 5, and his unprecedented solo success.  Moon Walk details his songwriting process for hits like “Human Nature,” “Beat It,” “Rock With You,” “Billie Jean,” and “We Are the World”; describes how he developed his signature dance style, including the Moon Walk; and opens the door to his very private personal relationships with his family, including sister Janet, and stars like Diana Ross, Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, and Brooke Shields.

NEW CONTENT: This is a facsimile edition of the original 1988 publication. It will include a new introduction from a well-known figure in the entertainment industry who was close to Michael and an afterword from Publisher Shaye Areheart who was, along with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Michael’s original editor at Doubleday.

-Erica

Random House Info Group has several drop-ins for the Fall 2009 season! 

Whether your patrons are new to the U.S., learning English as a second language or just building their English skills, Living Language offers a wide variety of in-demand ESL books and materials for the over 50 million non-native English language speakers in the U.S.

-Erica

Together with Vendela Vida, Mr. Eggers has written his first screenplay for a movie called Away We Go. I just watched the preview. Looks like it could have a Garden State-like appeal, and they’ve bagged one of the best directors in the business, Sam Mendes (American Beauty and Revolutionary Road) along with Maya Rupolph from SNL and John Krasinski (who, as long as he should live, will be known as “Jim from The Office”). 

Our book goes on sale June 2nd, with the movie opening in NYC and LA on June 5th. Put this on your radar!

-David

Maybe you've heard of him.

I’d love to share more with you all, but we know precisely nothing about this title right now except for that the story’s setting has returned to Ford County, MS, the setting for the knockout bestseller of 18 years ago, A Time To Kill.

Look for it in October.

-David

American Icon

The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime

by Teri Thompson, Nathaniel Vinton,

Michael O’Keeffe, and Christian Red

With Roger Clemen’s astonishing fall from grace at its center, the New York Daily News Sports Investigative Team has written the definitive book on corruption and the steroids era in Major League Baseball. An extraordinarily inside look at Clemens, baseball players such as Andy Pettitte and Jose Canseco, trainer Brian McNamee, and the myriad lawyers, politicians, drug dealers and sexual trysts that all make up the incredible Clemens story.

Knopf editor Peter Gethers addresses the question of how this book differs from the upcoming release from HarperCollins on Clemens.

    “The Harper book is a biography of Roger Clemens. Our book is not a bio – it’s a book of investigative journalism by the Sports Investigative Team for the NY Daily News – the reporters who have broken almost every big story on Clemens and every big steroid story over the past 3 years.

    While Clemens is the center of the book, it his role in the steroid investigation that dominates when he’s on stage. But the book gives equal time to Brian McNamee – the trainer who brought Clemens down – as well as the various lawyers, big time sports agents, Andy Pettitte, his father Tom Pettitte, Jose Canseco, politicians, even various drug dealers, criminals and porn stars. Ours is a muck-raking book – examining, among other things, the whole gym rat, drug culture of Texas athletes and dealers.

    Clemens is the villain of the book – and the book has enough proof of various perjuries on his part to do him some serious legal damage. None of this book’s major sources spoke to the author of the Harper book.

    I can give you more if you need it. But think of it this way – we’ve got the Woodward and Bernstein of sports journalism writing about Clemens, focusing on the Senate investigation and the truth behind the drug accusations – and in doing so, exposing the whole drug and sex and cheating culture of baseball.” – Peter Gethers, Knopf

-Erica

Titan will publish Transformers: The Art of the Movies just prior to the release of the eagerly awaited movie sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  The movie is slated to release June 26, 2009 and will star Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox!

The first and only book on the making of the blockbuster Transformers movies and packed with previously unpublished concept and design art!

By Simon Furman

978-1-84856-373-5 | $34.95/$43.00C | June 16th, 2009

-Erica

Add some history to your graphic novels collection with this newly-announced drop in:

08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail

Michael Crowley and Dan Goldman

Three Rivers Press

978-0-307-40511-1

$17.95/$19.95C

On sale: 1/27/09

From the same authors who made the graphic adaptation of The 9/11 Report a bestseller, this newest campaign trail memoir embraces the popular 08 them of “change”  in its very format. It is perfect for political enthusiasts and reluctant readers alike.

-Marie