From the Guardian Unlimited comes word that British bookstore customers will not be spared exposure to O.J. Simpson's demented mind after all. Gibson Square Books, having reached a publishing deal with the Goldman family, has decided to take some of the blood money for itself and will scatter copies of this garbage throughout the U.K.
UK rights have been sold to Gibson Square Books, an independent publisher which prides itself on publishing books that "provoke", and a British edition is due for publication on November 8. Speaking for Gibson Square earlier today, Martin Rynja rejected the suggestion that the imprint had moved from provocation to profiting from a horrendous crime.
"We publish a lot of books which are controversial," he said. "We publish books which we believe in and are important." He pointed to the fashion for publishing criminal memoirs, suggesting that those who have raised their voices against the publication of If I Did It have been silent in the face of successful memoirs from people implicated in other acts that have left others hurt, a stance he finds "incomprehensible".
According to Rynja, the family's prime motivation was not financial.
"Sure there's money involved," he admitted, "but they didn't think of it." The idea that Simpson should write a memoir confessing hypothetically to the murders did not originate from the Goldman camp, he explained.
...If it had been a thriller about how to get away with murder Rynja is sure they would not have published it, but faced with a book that could put "facts" that "only Simpson could have known" into the public domain, they had little choice.
I really feel bad for Rynja and Gibson Square Books. The poor babies "had little choice" about publishing this trash and accepting all of that blood money. Isn't that sad?
Dear Mr Houston, I read your comment with interest - though your facts are incorrect.
ReplyDeleteThe first US publishers of the book paid OJ Simpson an advance of around 700,000. In addition, they offered the Goldman family 5 million dollars.
The Goldman family lost the criminal case in 1994 but won the civil case against OJ Simpson in 1997. Their 1997 victory allowed them to take control the publication of Mr Simpson's book to ensure it would not be published by anyone else once the rights reverted, and in order for some good to come out of the saga.
I can assure you that if money had been their motive they would have immediately accepted the 5 million and lead a comfortable life thereafter. As it is, they have ensured that Mr Simpson's testimony has been shorn of its selective approach to the facts.
This is precisely the result the law aims to achieve when it provides victims with a course of action of wrongful death.
In Britain victims don't have such rights and are powerless against criminals writing books. I am certain you would not call that justice.
Martin Rynja, Gibson Square
Mr. Rynja, I appreciate your remarks.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my point is that the Goldmans had already done all the damage to OJ Simpson that could be done regarding this book. They were successful in making sure that he would not profit from the book in this country, so there was nothing but money to be gained from publishing it here.
I had the understanding that their control of the book extended to other countries as well, including the U.K. Are you saying that is not the case and that Simpson could still have published the book in your country? If so, I understand your point. If not, I still think it was about money to Fred Goldman.