Book World, Too, Feels Disaster’s Tremors

A Rutgers University professor finds himself “troubled and embarrassed” as his rather obscure 1999 book on the World Trade Center’s twin towers zooms up Amazon.com’s bestseller list. And Regnery Publishing Inc. debates whether to call off printing CNN commentator Barbara Olson’s book on the last days of the Clinton administration. Olson was a passenger on the plane that smashed into the Pentagon.

As of Sunday afternoon, two of the 10 top-selling books on Amazon.com had to do with the prophecies of 14th century astrologer Nostradamus. The top 10 also included a work on the world Trade Center, one on terrorism, one on the Taliban, one on biological weapons and one on Osama bin Laden by Yossef Bodansky.

The last title, “Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America” was first issued by Prima Publishing in 1999. Its ranking on the Amazon list then? No. 55,030. The expertise of the author--as well as his book--is in sudden demand. He is a military threat analyst and director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare.

Meanwhile, many authors of terrorist-themed thrillers are having inner debates about the moral implications of what they write. Said John J. Nance, author of “Blackout” (Putnam, 2000), whose plot centers on a devastating explosion aboard a jumbo jet, “I don’t want any terrorist cell handing around my book as an instruction manual” and causing “the death of innocent people.” In fact, Nance said, he recently abandoned a “promising plot line’ for a novel because he believed it would inspire terrorists.

Nance, an aviation expert and the author of 12 books, some with hijacking plots, said writers have a responsibility not to pursue certain plot lines. But the reality, he said, now that a horrible scenario has played out, is that authors will soon be exploring parallel themes, maybe even upping the story ante, to cash in.

“Everyone’s in a state of paralysis” in the publishing world, said Nora Rawlinson, editor in chief of Publishers Weekly. She noted a rise in sales of books about Islam and terrorism and photographic books about New York and the twin towers.

September traditionally is when publishers release their blockbusters, but many promotional tours are on hold. Book Soup in West Hollywood postponed a book signing Saturday by actress Anne Heche (“Call Me Crazy”) until October. Barnes & Noble canceled all promotional events nationwide through today.

Salman Rushdie canceled appearances in Vancouver and Toronto to promote his New York-based novel, “Fury.” A spokeswoman for Knopf Canada said Rushdie is devastated by Tuesday’s tragedy.

At Dutton’s Bookstore in Brentwood, customers were asking for books they hoped would help explain such things as the Middle Eastern mind-set and the worldview of America. Among these were Chalmers Johnson’s “Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire” and Judith Miller’s “God Has Ninety-Nine Names: Reporting From a Militant Middle East.”

At Amazon.com’s online bookstore, rising bestsellers included John Hogue’s “Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies,” which many say includes a vision of a major Western city’s destruction. After major catastrophes such as assassinations or earthquakes, Nostradamus is often cited as having foretold them.

Boston-based Northeastern University Press was taken by surprise by the demand for Simon Reeve’s 1999 book “The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism.” Associate director Jill Bahcall said that, with 5,000 copies in print, “we ran out early Wednesday morning” and that 15,000 more are being printed.

Reached in London, Reeve noted that a critic at the time of his book’s publishing had accused him of “scaremongering” by predicting an apocalyptic terrorist attack. He said sudden interest in his book has “left a nasty taste in the mouth. It’s not as though I’d written it in the last couple of days to capitalize on what happened.”

HarperCollins reported renewed interest in the paperback of Harold S. Kushner’s “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” an inspirational book on healing. A spokeswoman said the publisher plans early this week to deliver copies of the book to victims’ families in Manhattan.

St. Martin’s Press was grappling with what to do about the scheduled November publication of “Plane Insanity” by Elliott Hester, a humorous steward’s-eye view of jet travel. And Regnery Publishing is debating publishing Olson’s “The Final Days.” “We were all set to go to press this week,” said president-publisher Alfred Regnery. “We’ve delayed it for a week. It’s very likely we will go forward.”

Rutgers University’s Angus Kress Gillespie was ambivalent about his newfound success with “Twin Towers: The Life of New York City’s World Trade Center,” published in 1999 with a run of 3,000. “Up until Monday, it had sold 2,000. By Tuesday noon, the remaining 1,000 were gone,” and Rutgers University Press is quickly printing 18,000 more.

From his home in New Brunswick, N.J., Gillespie, a professor of American studies, said he, too, has mixed feelings about overnight success. “On the one hand, I’m proud of the book. I hope it will serve as a tribute to the victims of the disaster. As a human being, I’m troubled and embarrassed by the circumstances of the celebrity status of the book.”