Bookend
The troubles Macmillan have had over to Solzhenitsyn biography are even mere ludicrous and frustrating than William Shawcross revealed last week in the Sunday Times. The book was being writtea by David Burg and George Feifer, who did all the Moscow research for the book. On the grounds that some of George Feifer's Moscow gossip was inaccurate, and, damaging to Solzhenitsyn's standing WitP the Soviet authorities, Fritz Heeb, the Zurich lawyer who handles So1zhenit5y0'5 affairs outside the USSR, wrote to Macmil" lans asking them not to publish the book. Macmillans know perfectly well that other publishers in this country are going ahead with Solzhenitsyn biographies, but Heeb, has a hold over Macmillans which he ‘10,e,' not have over Collins and Pall Mall. rice controls all rights in Osip Mandelstam an the Medvedev brothers, two authors wh,e might very easily be withheld from Macrall" lans if they don't fall in with the Zurich diktat.
Meanwhile their own biography will to another British publisher if it eVe' gets finished. Rumour has it that Georde Feifer went to see his co-writer, DavIr; Burg, the other day, and gently suggeste; that he was very behind with the introda'; tory chapter. The exchange grew heateu,, and reached a climax when Mr Burg tbres,; a samovar at Mr Feifer, who made in excuses and left.
With respect to the writings of the gr-re man 'himself, it is not yet banal to decl, that the products of genius, inspiring e'or tors with joy, strike nothing but terkrie into the hearts of accountants. A reliav, authority has it that Hamish HamiltaP offered, for Solzhenitsyn's forthcoMilicg,f August 1914, the remarkable sun"' £70,000 (surely borrowed from Micha`e Joseph). Why Lord Thomson wanted n,lire unmistakable genius to crown his errPi when he has already secured the SerijCely of William Rees-Mogg, is something lie posterity can tell. The fact remains that tst Bodley Head had already signed up Augild 1914 for the comparatively paltry sum "a £30,000, and are presumably hoping that„, kindly paperback company will put the'" out of their misery.
At this point, Bookend was about to some delightful stories about Tom Stace't Ltd: but exigencies of space demand thee it be left over to another week. 5,4155 Bookbuyer's remarks about GeoffreY a few weeks back, several other emploYe'd have left the prosperous firm of Allen 9,11of Unwin. Victor Thorpe has gone to woric an author, Charles Levinson; David Knjg to the marketing director, is going nver tof Weidenfelds as group marketing direc„d (over the heads of Geoffrey Howard tY Jeremy Hadfield); David Ross, the public1;5 manager, is going to Eyre Methuen tie marketing manager; and it is not imPossio that there will be other resignations ori editorial side. In October there were ejgre editors under Rayner Unwin. Now there five. Whoever wanted to put new wineinre old bottles had better start pouring be— any more fall off the shelf.
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