Prepare for an avalanche of Michael Jackson books
Disasters such as high-seas piracy or a Hudson River jet landing might inspire publishers to rush a book into print, but when the King of Pop dies? Get ready for the sounds of a hundred rumbling printing presses. Among the books being scheduled or considered:
-- Transit Media, a small Montreal publisher, plans this week to start printing a hardcover biography by Ian Halperin. The company's president said the book had been prepared in the run-up to Jackson's series of London concerts. The book had already been titled Michael Jackson: The Last Days.
-- Independent publisher John Blake has commissioned a new biography, Michael Jackson – King of Pop: 1958-2009 by long-time fan Emily Herbert. It's scheduled for release August 24, according to The Bookseller.
-- A reprint of 85,000 copies of J. Randy Taraborrelli's Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness.
-- Random House's Vintage/Anchor Books has ordered another 20,000 copies of On Michael Jackson by Pulitzer Prize-winnning critic Margo Jefferson, says Publisher's Weekly.
PW also notes that while Jackson's tunes were huge sellers last weekend, there hasn't been a huge run on books. The most popular titles about him on Amazon were Michael Jackson Conspiracy by Aphrodite Jones (sales rank 228) and Michael Jackson: For the Record by Chris Cadman (298).
Comments
Jackson was very talented and that talent was showcased by the birth of MTV. Jackson also lived his life in the full glare of the media. During his life and even more so in the lives of future stars little is left hidden or undisclosed. Other than sentimental remembrances, books about Jackson probably would contain little in the way of new information.
Posted by: ruth | June 29, 2009 7:17 PM
I just don't understand how there can be so many books on the topic. What's the likelihood that people will actually read about Michael Jackson, particularly when they can listen to his music or watch videos of him? It seems so... odd.
Posted by: Biblibio | June 30, 2009 6:12 AM
He was such a nice person and web will live to remember him no matter what .
I love his music.
Rip
Posted by: Muyembo | July 1, 2009 6:30 PM