But in all the coverage about the controversy the women whose
Posted in General on 26. Sep, 2010
But in all the coverage about the controversy, the women whose stories made The Bookseller of Kabul such a profoundly eye-opening narrative remain silent. I said this was not possible.”Lawyers exchanged words and a press conference was held in Oslo, but Seierstad’s book remains unchanged. Now Rais, a well-known bookseller famed in Afghanistan for opposing the Taliban’s censorship laws, is writing his own version of events. There will be a chapter on Asne and she has already been warned that it will be unflattering.Seierstad seems remarkably phlegmatic about the affair now, acknowledging that Rais’s revenge made for a “great story” that breaks the imperial tradition of a European author speaking for the Third World.
“He wanted me to tell the world I was sorry for the first book. Before their argument had reached the media, Rais had spoken from Afghanistan to Seierstad, who spent four months living with his family in Kabul in 2001. “He said, ‘Asne, I don’t like this book so I’ll come to Norway and we’ll sit down for two weeks and we’ll rewrite it,’” says Seierstad. “Oh no, not that again.” Then she laughs, before launching into her description of how Shah Mohammed Rais, the fictionalised patriarch from her bestseller The Bookseller of Kabul, flew business class halfway across the world and threatened to sue her.
Rais (Sultan Khan in her book) objected to Seierstad’s portrait of him as an irascible domestic tyrant who took a 16-year-old second wife, refused to allow his sons to attend school, and turned a blind eye to his eldest son’s sexual exploitation of street beggars. Asne Seierstad flicks her long blonde hair from her face, flings out an arm and gives a deep groan of mock-horror. The author was nominated by a panel of young judges, and Childline founder Esther Rantzen noted that Wilson is “truly a hero to so many children”. The award will be presented by the Countess of Wessex at a ceremony at London’s BT Tower..
The family said: “We decided it would have been a terrible waste to have let all of his work so far go unpublished and feel he would have wished us to complete it.” A collection of Peel’s music journalism is also likely.* Today, children’s first choice Jacqueline Wilson will receive a special BT Childline Award in recognition of the way her writing has given millions of children an insight into challenging subjects. “But if you don’t fall into that category, I have no compunction in settling old scores.” All’s fair in love, war and memoirs.
* The Peel family is, as we reported earlier this week, upset by two cash-in biographies of John, one published by Orion and the other by O’Mara. This week, Transworld, who paid about £1.5m for Peel’s memoirs, has confirmed that it will publish his autobiography next autumn. It seems Peel had already written some 50,000 words, to which his widow Sheila and their children will add personal reminiscences. “None of my friends or people I like doing business with have anything to fear at all,” he continues. We can expect lots about Tony Blair (the two had “a very good relationship for a long time”), as well as Gordon Brown and David Blunkett, with each of whom he had some 50 one-to-one meetings. Former Mirror editor Piers Morgan will be spending the Christmas holiday checking the proofs of his forthcoming memoir, The Insider, in advance of its Ebury Press publication in March.
“It’s quite eclectic, as it was last time, but there are some excellent books in there.”There’s a good mix of thrillers, literary fiction, interesting biographies and books that have been sleeper hits in the United States, especially The Time Traveller’s Wife and The Jane Austen Book Club, which is an obvious one because it’s partly about a book club.”Mr Rickett said he assumed the Robbie Williams autobiography was selected in order to get him on to the show although it had been well reviewed. We were spoilt for choice.”Judy Finnigan said she was really looking forward to reading the new list and discussing them with viewers as well as celebrity reviewers. “We enjoyed it hugely earlier this year and we’re sure it’s going to be an even greater success.”Richard Madeley, her husband and co-presenter, said: “If anything the choice is wider than last time.”The book trade agreed. Joel Rickett, deputy editor of The Bookseller magazine, said it was a really interesting list. Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor, which came second, saw an increase of 350 per cent.Amanda Ross, the executive producer of the show, said it had been tough selecting just 10 from 301 books submitted for consideration. “It was very hard to follow last year’s extremely successful list, but we think this year’s books will do even better.