Fidel At Frankfurt

The Frankfurt Book Fair is to the publishing industry what the annual gathering of French chefs in Perigord is to food. As one insider from Random House says, You spend the week at Frankfurt filling up your diary for the whole of the coming year. With over 7,000 publishers from all over the world jockeying for space, it isnt easy being heard unless you represent a large or well-reputed firm. One word of advice none of the big wheels will even cast a glance your way if you persist in saying that youre at the Book Fair. Its the Buchmesse, please.

 

This year began with cheers from the floor when the news of Arundhati Roys Booker win was announced. (Of course, the respective publishers of Jim Crace and Bernard MacLaverty werent quite as enthusiastic as the rest). This was followed by something of a lull while business was doing just fine, there didnt seem to be any really big books at the show.

That changed, as it always does. The usual pack of bestsellers in search of a sweeter deal was around, led by Stephen King whose latest book, Bag of Bones, is on offer.The Green Mile, his ambitious serialised novel, has officially been declared a grand flop, vindicating the stance of the many who pointed out that youre not going to pick up installment one to read on a flight when instalment two isnt going to come out for another month. But a complete King is a different matter altogether.

Then the bidding for the rights to Legendary Brides began in earnest. Legendary Brides is one of those amazing illustrated books that manages to play on three topics that are guaranteed to move anything off the shelf weddings, royalty, and the Kennedys. The book is a guide to the clothes, food and etceteras that graced various famous weddings, including those of Wallis Simpson, Jackie Kennedy and Princess Di. Funny, I always thought that figuring out the divorce settlement was much more exciting.

The autobiography of the fair, however, is Fidel Castros History Will Absolve Me. Its being handled by literary agent Sandy Djikstra, who has represented authors such as Deepak Chopra, Amy Tan and Susan Faludi in the past, so you can expect nothing less than a seven-figure advance for el lider maximos memoirs.

I suspect no one can accuse the Cuban leader of having ghost-written this book. Even though Louis Nevaer has helped shape the story, its the authentic voice of Fidel that comes across, especially when hes talking about muy estupido Americanos: McNamara was an idiot still is! And Robert Kennedy was a complete fool! Ah, these sparkling insights that help us to more fully comprehend the Bay of Pigs fiasco.

More startling is his comparison of Che Guevara with Diana, and his casual admission that his brother is gay or, to use Castros own words has, shall we say, certain weaknesses and perversions. He talks wistfully of the greatest love of his life the cigars he gave up in a dramatic gesture in 1980. There is just one subject, in fact, that he stays off that famous trademark beard. There was an equally famous KGB joke at one time: Whats the perfect disguise? A shaved Fidel.