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Curtis Wilkie to write Scruggs book

June 4th, 2008 @ 2:40 pm - by NMC · 16 Comments

According to the blog of Daily Mississippian journalist Paul Quinn, Quinn  has been told by Curtis Wilkie that Curtis has contracted to write a Scruggs book.  Wilkie teaches journalism at Ole Miss and is the author of Dixie: A Personal Odyssey Through Events That Shaped the Modern South, along with being co-author with Jim McDougal of Arkansas Mischief.

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Filed Under: Herald & Examiner

16 Responses so far ↓

  1. JustOlMoi says:

    Contracted … with whom ?
    Scruggs ?
    A publisher ?

  2. dmwriter says:

    JustOl: I believe it is Random House, however I am not sure. Wilkie’s agent hasn’t called back yet. The grapevine is saying he submitted idea’s to several publishers and a bidding war ensued. Please remember this is all second hand and Wilkie would not confirm any details about the book.

  3. curious georgette says:

    Well, I hope this doesn’t leave others out if they want to write something as well (hint, hint to our hosts).

  4. dmwriter says:

    If any of y’all want to see what the title might be click on my link….

  5. NMC says:

    The title suggests to me that Wilkie may be buying into the version of Scruggs’s career that was the dominant one pre-indictment. I hope not.

  6. Magnolia says:

    One of Scruggs’ biggest problems about his life was the lack of self discipline when it came to promoting himself. Go figure…But thats just me.

  7. dmwriter says:

    I was looking around some more for information about the book and found this on a Boston Globe website.
    http://www.boston.com/ae/books/blog/2008
    /06/another_souther.html

  8. catty says:

    Curtis was a great reporter; an enjoyable writer. Can’t think of anyone else better to do the job.

  9. ccvz says:

    NMC / 5 – While I was in Oxford for Double Decker I was fortunate enough to hear the first chapter dictated/summerized….and it was explained to me that the point of view Curtis was taking wasn’t going to be written the way the title suggests (or how you’re interpreting it). However, Curtis had just semi-completed the first chapter so I have no idea where it went from there.

  10. scandaljunkie says:

    I’ll buy it at soon as it hits the bookstores I’m sure. By the way, I ordered Mickey Sherman’s book “How Can You Defend Those People” that is shown in the bottom left hand corner. Does folo get any credit for that?

  11. duckweedpond says:

    Would you let us know how that Mickey Sherman book reads scandaljunkie? I was thinkin’ of getting it too.

    I bought some books the other day as well. I think folo gets something as long as you navigate to amazon from here. Is that right, lotus?

  12. lotus says:

    Yep, that’s right, ducky — folo gets a 4-6% commission on any of your purchases that originate from this site (10% on Kindles). So thank you, you and scandaljunkie!

  13. lotus says:

    Like dmwriter’s link, the DJ identifies Wilkie’s publisher as Harmony Books. I think the Publisher’s Lunch quote at the Globe — “part Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, part Barbarians at the Gate” — is a start on what’s to be said, but also a suggestion why I’m still looking forward to NMC’s Scruggs book most.

  14. lotus says:

    Whoops, date-typo in the DJ story: “July 27″ should be “June 27.”

  15. lotus says:

    Patsy Brumfield interviewed Wilkie and has a short report in today’s DJ.

    The University of Mississippi journalism teacher and former Boston Globe reporter presented the book proposal to Random House and in two weeks got the OK — " a remarkably short time for a publishing “yes,” said his agent, Deborah Grosvenor of Washington, D.C.

    But the as-yet-untitled book will be about more than Oxonian Scruggs’ trials and tribulations. Scruggs, perhaps the most famous plaintiffs attorney in America, and two others face sentencing for their parts in a conspiracy to bribe a circuit judge over legal fees from Hurricane Katrina insurance cases.

    “It’s really a bigger story than just this case,” said Wilkie, a native Mississippian. “It’s about trial lawyers in Mississippi and political attempts to beat them back and the squabbling amongst them.”

    Scruggs, however, will be the book’s central figure, and Wilkie already knows many of the principal characters.

    He says he’s just begun interviews, but he’s been saving news clippings and other materials since the men were indicted in November.

    His agent said Wilkie has about 18 months to do the writing, then it’s up to the publisher as to when it comes out. Usually, the wait time is six months to a year, Grosvenor noted.

    (h/t ccvz)

  16. someone/wcents says:

    I may write a book. I have been close to all involved. Im the pilot that flew them all around the world.