Jessie Duarte has a moan about not getting a freebie

20 November 2012 - 02:18 By Andrew Donaldson
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Short, sharp guidance and observations from a journalist with attitude. All books available from Exclusives

IF YOU READ ONE BOOK THIS WEEK

The Bat, by Jo Nesbø (Harvill Secker), R215

FIRST published in Norway in 1997, this, the debut Harry Hole novel, finally makes its appearance in English. Here Hole is off to Australia - an admittedly strange locale for Scandinavian noir - on the trail of the murderer of a Norwegian television star. It's good to see that Hole has all his obsessional attributes from the get-go.

THE ISSUE

Are we done with paper? Ian Hanson's new book, Paper: An Elegy (Fourth Estate), suggests that the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. Paper, of course, is the world's most ubiquitous, versatile and beautiful man-made material.

However, one area where we may see less of it in the digital age is publishing.

"When you see a merger between two giants in a declining industry," analyst Adam Davidson wrote in the New York Times recently, "it can look like the financial version of a couple having a baby to save a marriage." He was commenting on the merger last month of Random House and Penguin, two of the world's six largest publishers. "Ever since Amazon began ripping apart the book business," Davidson said, "the largest houses have been looking for a way to fight back. If this merger is any indication, they have chosen an old-fashioned strategy: Size."

Will it work? No answers yet, I'm afraid.

CRASH COURSE

ANC national executive council member Jessie Duarte has written a brattish open letter to journalist Adriaan Basson, author of Zuma Exposed. In it, she takes exception to the fact that Basson wouldn't provide her with a free copy of the book.

"I made a request to your editor at the City Press and she initially thought she could make an advance copy available to me. You see my reason for making this request is that the book is about the ANC and its leaders and, in the main, the president of the ANC and his family. Unfortunately, it would appear that you were not very happy to provide me with an advance copy and whilst I can live with that, it seemed childish to say the least. I now have a copy - bought at the princely sum of R300," Duarte wrote.

Yes, R300 is a princely sum [at Exclusive Books it costs R216], and it is something of a relief to learn that Duarte will survive this harrowing ordeal. I am at a loss to explain why she should have approached Basson's editor, Ferial Haffajee, for a free copy. Why not try Jonathan Ball? I'm sure that, having gone to the expense of publishing it, he'd be quite happy to dole out free copies to whoever wants one.

THE BOTTOM LINE

"It's often said that a band is like a family, and that may well be true, depending on how often your family is tired and drunk." - Rod: The Autobiography, by Rod Stewart (Century)

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