A week after author Roxane Guy pulled her next book from Simon & Schuster over its decision to publish right-wing firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos, Hillary Clinton has signed with the same publisher for a book of personal essays reflecting on favorite quotations.
The Clinton announcement came a day before demonstrators on the UC Berkeley campus blocked a scheduled appearance there by Yiannopoulos. In early January, media reports said Yiannopoulos had received a $250,000 advance for Dangerous, described as “autobiographical.” In 2016, Twitter permanently banned Yiannopoulos after several incidents of alleged abusive behavior.
“So much for any [threatened] author boycott,” of Simon & Schuster, notes Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.
“Certainly, I believe Gay has a right to pull her book from S&S – that’s her free speech right – and I believe that Clinton also has a right to publish with them,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “S&S publisher Jonathan Karp is a trusted editor for such works as the Clinton book. But I don’t think this is the end of controversy for S&S. We are just six weeks or so away from that book’s scheduled publication, and as the events in Berkeley show, Yiannopoulos tends to bring out strong feelings in people.”