Philip Roth biography will still be published in Australia despite controversy – Sydney Morning Herald

Penguin Randomhouse is still planning to publish Blake Baileys life of Philip Roth in Australia despite his US publisher W.W. Norton halting distribution and promotion of the book after several women made allegations of grooming, sexual impropriety and rape against the biographer.

It said those allegations against Bailey, who has denied all wrongdoing, were extremely serious and concerning. At this stage they are allegations, and we continue to publish Philip Roth: The Biography. We are assessing the situation closely. PRH is still expecting 1800 copies to arrive from Britain in late May for a scheduled June 16 publication date. It did not opt to print locally, although some bookstores have ordered in copies from overseas, where it was released in early April.

These are difficult days for publishers. Baileys biography of Philip Roth was immediately controversial on publication in the US earlier this month as it detailed its subjects attitude to women, both in his books and his personal life. There were immediate suggestions that Roth, long a target of some feminists, was also a worthy target of so-called cancel culture.

Now the spotlight has turned on the biographer himself. As a result of the allegations, Bailey has also been dumped by his literary agent, the Story Factory.

Allegations of grooming, sexual impropriety and rape have been made against Blake Bailey.Credit:Getty Images

Another American publisher has this week faced a tricky situation. Staff at Simon & Schuster sent president Jonathan Karp a letter this week demanding the company scrap a seven-figure deal it has with Donald Trumps former vice-president, Mike Pence. Workers at S&S accused the company of perpetuating white supremacy.

By choosing to publish Mike Pence, the letter said, Simon & Schuster is generating wealth for a central figure of a presidency that unequivocally advocated for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Blackness, xenophobia, misogyny, ableism, islamophobia, antisemitism, and violence. This is not a difference of opinions; this is legitimising bigotry.

They also demanded S&S end a distribution deal with PostHill Press, which is publishing a book by Jonathan Mattingly, one of three policemen involved in the fatal shooting of a black woman, Breonna Taylor, year, and commit to ongoing reevaluations of all clients, authors, distribution deals, and all other financial commitments that promote white supremacist content and/or harm the aforementioned marginalised communities.

Staff at Simon & Schuster protested against a deal the publisher made with former vice-president Mike Pence.Credit:AP

Karp had already stopped distribution of the Mattingly book, but he was adamant that the Pence memoir would go ahead.

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Philip Roth biography will still be published in Australia despite controversy - Sydney Morning Herald