Publishers Weekly - May 12, 2014

Audio
News

Isaacs Takes On ‘Night Heron’

Hachette Audio is bringing in actor Jason Isaacs to read the debut spy thriller Night Heron by Adam Brookes. The novel, set in China, is a “pulse-pounding” story that “reinvents the spy thriller for the 21st century,” by an author who has experienced “international intrigue first-hand” (Brookes is a foreign correspondent with the BBC). Isaacs’s “impressive range and mastery of accents” are on display in this first of a trilogy, which is being released in print by Hachette’s new Red Hook imprint. Isaacs notably played “Death Eater” Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, and will appear alongside Brad Pitt in the upcoming World War II film Fury. The audiobook is set for a May 27 release.

Waters Hits the Road with Macmillan

Filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist John Waters (best known for directing cult films like Hairspray and Pink Flamingos)

was in the studio last month recording the audio edition of his forthcoming Carsick:

John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. Waters, described by the publisher as “America’s most beloved weirdo,” chronicles his trip across the country in this “unforgettable vacation with a wickedly funny companion.” The audiobook goes on sale June 3.

Penguin Brings In an Oscar Winner

Academy Award–winning actress Lee Grant will read the introduction of her memoir, I Said Yes to Everything, for Penguin Audio. The rest of the book will be narrated by Orlagh Cassidy. I Said Yes to Everything, set for a July 8 release, details Grant’s starring roles in Valley of the Dolls and Shampoo (for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), her 12 In the Studio

A LOOK AT AUDIO IN PRODUCTION

years on the “Hollywood blacklist,” and her “singularly unpredictable life.”

Sestero Gets Disastrous at Tantor

Actor Greg Sestero will read his book Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room,’ the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made, cowritten with journalist Tom Bissell, for Tantor. The “hilarious” and “inspiring” memoir tells the story of a “mysterious misfit” named Tommy Wiseau, who made the “$6 million cinematic catastrophe” referred to in the title, which starred Sestero. The Disaster Artist has been optioned for film by James Franco’s production company, and it was recently announced that Seth Rogan has signed on for a role. The audiobook will go on sale May 19.

S&S Brings Back Hatcher

Actress Teri Hatcher returned to Simon & Schuster Audio to read The Battle for WondLa, the third installment of Tony DiTerlizzi’s series, the Search for WondLa. In the new volume, “All hope for a peaceful coexistence between humankind and aliens seems lost.” The audio edition was released on May 6.

Chopra in the Booth at RH

Deepak Chopra will read his new book, The Future of God, for Random House Audio, due out November 11. In it, Chopra divulges the “faulty reasoning, bogus science, and general bad faith prevalent among militant atheists like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris,” and offers new and provocative ways to understand God and the nature of belief in the 21st century. ■

➤BY CLARE SWANSON

Simultaneous print and audiobook • June 3, 2014

PRAISE FOR JOHN WATERS’S NARRATION

“[Waters is] an eloquent writer who can turn a witty phrase almost as deftly as one
of the book’s subjects, Tennessee Williams, and do so with convincing style.
This goes for his narration as well...his flamboyance is infectious.” —AudioFile