Barnes & Noble Draws The Sleaze-Lit Line At O.J.'s 'If I Did It'
Our vision of the lobbies of major book chains being decorated by cardboard standees, featuring a smiling, two-dimensional O.J. Simpson holding a ski-mask in one hand and a blood-stained knife in the other, may never come to pass, as Barnes & Noble has announced it has no plans to carry If I Did It, the little confessional murder-memoir that could. From the AP report:
Citing a perceived lack of customer interest, the chain said the book would only be available by special order or for purchase online through Barnes & Noble.com.
"Our buyers don't feel there will be enough of a demand to carry it in our stores," Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
A rival chain, Borders Group Inc., said Tuesday that it would stock If I Did It, a fictionalized account of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. But spokeswoman Ann Binkley said Borders "will not promote or market the book in any way."
It remains to be seen if Borders' solution to dealing with the highly controversial publication—we'll carry it, but we won't be happy about it!—will earn them more criticism than Barnes & Noble's far more cautious, "over our dead bodies will we capitalize on this blood-soaked material, excepting of course orders placed through barnesandnoble.com, featuring free shipping when you spend $25!" approach. Should demand far exceed projection, however, expect If I Did It to become far more prevalent on the nation's bookstore shelves, made only more so by the subsequent release of trade and mass market paperback editions, plus the requisite Little Golden Books tie-in to capitalize on the always-profitable children's literature segment of the publishing market.
