Avoiding Reality with Spartacus

There is a lot going on in the publishing industry right now: Big-six publishers are implementing new e-only imprints, the Department of Justice is continuing its investigation, more people are suing Apple, etc. etc.It's a dramatic and volatile time. There is much to discuss!

However, I am not going to touch on any of that right now. Because, quite frankly, it is upsetting and makes me a little bit afraid about the future of this business that is my livelihood. Instead, I am going to tell you about something fun, something I am personally very excited about: Kirk Douglas has a book in the works...about the movie SPARTACUS.

The Associated Press fills us in:

At age 95, Kirk Douglas is not too old to give e-books a shot.

The legendary actor has an e-memoir coming out in June.

Titled "I Am Spartacus! Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist," the book tells about the Roman epic that came out in 1960 and helped break Hollywood's ban against suspected Communists.

Douglas, who starred in the "Spartacus" movie and helped produce it, reveals that Dalton Trumbo wrote the screenplay after the blacklisted Trumbo had worked throughout the 1950s under assumed names.

The book includes a foreword by George Clooney. It is being released by Open Road Integrated Media, a digital publisher that announced the deal Monday. An audio edition will be narrated by Douglas' actor-son Michael Douglas.

See the post HERE in the Washington Post

To put it simply: I am stoked about this book. I am a huge fan of SPARTACUS. I watched it for the first time in early high school (or late middle school..I can't quite remember haha), but became obsessed, bought the VHS and proceeded to watch it over and over and over again. Just this past year I tracked it down on DVD so now I can watch it again whenever I so choose. I will still never stop laughing about the scene where Sparty drowns the prison guard in a pot of soup. Ahh, classic.