Police
Raid Booksigning for Stupid White Men
Open
Letter from Michael Moore
on Publishing of STUPID WHITE MEN
Feb 2002
Dear
Friends, I'd like to tell you a little tale, a personal story
of what it is like to fear losing your freedom of speech, how
it feels to be drowned in a wave of patriotism which threatens
with all its might to suffocate your ideas and stifle dissent.
For
nearly four months, from September through December of last year,
I did not know whether the book I had just written for HarperCollins
-- STUPID WHITE MEN -- was ever going to be read by the American
public. HarperCollins, one of the major publishing houses in the
world, was trying to decide whether the words I had written were
now "too offensive" to a nation which had suddenly fallen in love
with George W. Bush.
By
the morning of September 11, 2001, the HarperCollins printing
presses, located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had already printed
50,000 copies of an announced 100,000-copy first printing of my
new book -- and then the world, for all of us, came to a standstill.
The
next day, I spoke to the people at HarperCollins, and I was told
that they were going to put most of their books on hold for the
moment. I thought that was a good idea. "We'll take this a day
at time," my editor told me, just as the siren in his building
went off, the first of many bomb scares that emptied the buildings
of Manhattan that week.
I
was in no mood to think about a "book" when all that was on my
mind was how my wife and I were going to get across this country
and back home to be with our daughter in New York. I had no desire
to go on a book tour, and the only tour that concerned me at the
moment was the rapid one I was on, in a rented minivan, for the
3,000-mile trek home.
Once
back in New York City, the days turned into weeks, and I began
to make calls to the publisher to inquire when my book would be
coming out. The scheduled release date of October 2 had long since
passed.
It
was then that I was informed that there were "problems" with Stupid
White Men.
I
was told that, unless I re-wrote large sections of my book (sections
mostly dealing with my harsh but funny criticisms of the W.),
plus change the title and the cover -- and then, after all that,
reimburse the publisher of up to $100,000 out of my pocket (!)
so this new version could be reprinted -- then the powers-that-be
might actually destroy the ENTIRE run of 50,000 copies that had
already been printed! My book would be sent to the shredder and
"pulped." I would then have to wait for up to a year before I
could take it to another publisher. In other words, the book would
be toast.
I
refused to rewrite a single word of my book. I was proud of everything
I had written. In my opinion, Stupid White Men seemed even more
relevant than before. Enron, Kenneth Lay, Arthur Andersen -- it's
all there in my book -- and I wrote those passages last spring!
What if my book had been released when it was supposed to, on
October 2nd? The stuff I had dug up on these guys -- I would have
been talking about them all over the airwaves long before they
skipped outta Dodge with the cookie jar.
There's
lots more in the book that I wanted out in the public arena months
ago: An open letter to Yassir Arafat on how to really win and
stop the bloodshed; a report on a chance run-in I had with Jeb
Bush two weeks before the 2000 election on a deserted street in
Tallahassee; my exploration of the three times (that I know of)
that George W. Bush has been arrested and charged with crimes
by the police -- it's all there, and I saw no need to change a
single thing.
But
I was told that "the political climate has changed in America"
and that my attacks on Bush and his cronies would not be met with
open arms by a Bush-adoring public.
I
then had a number of meetings, on the phone and in person, with
executives, lawyers, and editors at the publishing house. They
asked for some sort of compromise, for me to at least "tone down"
my dissent. Again, I responded that would not be possible, and
that I could not, in good conscience, alter anything. I did this
knowing full well it would result in the death of my book.
Word
began to leak out about Stupid White Men being "banned." Articles
appeared in Publishers Weekly and Salon.com. I was trying to remain
quiet about whole affair, but once a number of reporters found
out (not from me), and a group of librarians organized a letter-writing
campaign, HarperCollins, after weighing all their options (and
the potential reaction to those options), decided finally to release
the book AS IS -- unchanged and uncensored, on Tuesday, February
19th.
They
did the right thing, and I appreciated and admired their courage
to do so when I know this was not an easy decision for them to
make, considering the pressure they must have been under.
I
have avoided writing this letter to all of you for weeks. In part,
I did not want to say or do anything that might jeopardize the
good working relationship I have now with the publisher. I have
put nearly a year of my life into this book, and the thought of
it not being available because of what you saw in this email just
didn't seem worth it.
HarperCollins
is doing their best to get the book out there -- but now, even
they have run into resistance, with some bookstores telling them
that they are not interested in having me come to their stores
on the book tour "due to the controversial nature of the book...and
the change in the country's political climate." Can somebody tell
me why weather patterns have suddenly become everyone's primal
political fear?
Lately,
I started getting a lot of mail from around the country (and the
world) as this story spread. People wanted to know the truth about
what had happened. Some had seen the issue of Entertainment Weekly
a few weeks ago which had named me their Winner of the Week for
succeeding in getting my book released. I decided it was best
to let you know from me personally what has transpired -- and
that the outcome was a good one, a rare victory these days for
our side, and for the cause of free expression.
For
me, it really came down to the fact that, as an American living
during a time where our own government (and a mostly compliant
press) seeks to silence discussion and "manage" the truth, it
was important to tell you what I have seen, what I have been through,
and to wonder what would have happened if I had not been a writer
who was known and had an audience and an email list that on a
good day reaches a few million people. I don't like this feeling,
and I would greatly appreciate it if this country would come to
its senses and start acting like America again (or least our IDEA
of America!).
My
book comes out on February 19th. I'll be hitting a couple dozen
cities on the book tour, and I'll probably add a few more (if
you'd like me to come to your town, let me or HarperCollins know!).
100% of whatever royalties I make on each book sold in every city
on the tour will be donated to a local social-change group.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sidebars1/Mike_Tour_0205.html">BookTour
Also
-- apologies in advance to you for having to look at my mug all
over the tube during the upcoming weeks (you'll be able to avoid
me by checking the press schedule on my website, beginning on
the night of Feb. 19th with the much-anticipated mano y mano smackdown
with Bill "Rile Me Up!" O'Reilly on the Fox Nuisance Channel).
Over
the next couple of weeks, I will be also adding new items to my
site (www.michaelmoore.com)
such as "Vote for Your Favorite Stupid White Man!" and "Take the
Stupid White Man Quiz!" You'll also be able to read in the coming
weeks sample passages from the book, plus two new online chapters
I have written for it (post 9-11).
Oh,
and if you want to get the book right now (it's full title is
STUPID WHITE MEN...And Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the
Nation!) you can order it from the website for independent bookstores,
BookSense, or at the sites with the deep discounts: Amazon.com
or BarnesAndNoble.com.
See below for links. And, on the 19th of this month, it will be
at your local independent or chain bookseller, right next to the
wrestlers' tomes and Pat Buchanan's Book o' Laughs.
Needless
to say, the publishing industry, much of which believes that now
is NOT the right time to be selling a book of political humor
like this, will be watching to see just how well people respond
to an author who thinks it's funny to suggest that falling off
couches usually has something to do with a beverage, and not a
solid salted food product.
Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
http://www.michaelmoore.com
Where
to get the book: Visit this page for several sources: http://www.michaelmoore.com
http://www.booksense.com/
For
Amazon.com, go here www.Amazon.com
