Murdoch firm tried to kill satire on Bush
news.independent.co.uk
By David Usborne in New
York
24 February 2002
An irreverent new book that invites
President George Bush to admit that he
is a "functional illiterate" has shot
straight to the top of the American
best-seller list, even though it almost
never saw the light of day because the
publisher thought it went too far.
The success of Stupid White Men ... and
Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the
Nation by populist film-maker and activist
Michael Moore is surely causing red
faces at HarperCollins, owned by Rupert
Murdoch.
Mr Moore, whose BBC2 series TV
Nation was a success in Britain, has
revealed how close his editors came to
killing the book when it was first due for
publication last October, in the wake of
the World Trade Centre tragedy.
HarperCollins, by contrast, is keeping
quiet on the subject.
"We are very happy with the book," said
Lisa Herling, the director of corporate
communications. And the promotional
blurb sent to reviewers underlines the
point: "Few have been willing to speak
out with a different point of view lately -
until now."
The "different point of view", however,
was at first too much for HarperCollins.
After Mr Moore refused a request from
his editors to tone down the book and
rewrite at least half of it, the publishing
house - according to his version of
events - threatened to pulp 50,000
copiesthat had already been printed. "I
told them I wouldn't change 50 per cent
of one word," Mr Moore said. A
three-month stand-off then followed
before the decision was made to publish
it after all.
"I was very surprised," Mr Moore said of
the firm's change of heart. "They were
adamant about their dislike of the things
I had to say about Bush." He has said
that when the pulping option was raised,
HarperCollins suggested he pay
$100,000 (£73,000) from his pocket to
defray the costs.
Most of the barbs against Mr Bush are in
a chapter written as an open letter to the
president. Among questions he asks is
this: "Are you an alcoholic, and if so,
how is this affecting your performance as
Commander in Chief?" And there are
others: "George, are you able to read
and write on an adult level? It appears to
me and many others that, sadly, you
may be a functional illiterate. This is
nothing to be ashamed of. You have lots
of company ... But let me ask you this: if
you have trouble comprehending the
complex position papers you are handed
as the Leader of the Mostly Free World,
how can we entrust something like our
nuclear secrets to you?"
If HarperCollins is sensitive to charges
that it came close to censoring Mr
Moore, there are reasons that go back to
1998. That was the year in which the
company caused a furore when it
cancelled East and West, Chris Patten's
reflections on his years as Hong Kong's
last governor. Mr Murdoch did not like
the book because it was harsh about
China, a country he was trying to do
business in.
There is no evidence that Mr Murdoch
was personally involved in holding up the
Michael Moore book. But then it is hard
to know, because HarperCollins refuses
to discuss exactly what was going on
when it asked Mr Moore to redraft his
pages.
"Because of 11 September, we decided
it would be best to put the book on hold,"
Ms Herling said. "But I am not going to
get into a discussion about the
conversations we had with Mr Moore.
Ultimately it was decided we were
enthusiastic about the book." |
