Canongate Books will release Julian Assange: The Unauthorized Autobiography tomorrow, despite Assange’s late decision to distance himself from the project. According to the publisher, the WikiLeaks chief signed a contract in late 2010 to write a book — “part memoir, part manifesto” — and proceeded to give more than fifty hours of taped interviews to his chosen ghostwriter while under house arrest in England. Upon receiving a first draft in March, Assange decided, “All memoir is prostitution.” But being that he’d already signed his advance into escrow, giving Assange’s lawyers first access to payment for legal bills, the tome is still coming out tomorrow.
Of course, neither a publisher nor memoirist could ask for better publicity ahead of a release date. Already the Independent is teasing personal revelations in the book, including Assange’s account of the sexual abuse allegations still pending against him in Sweden. To Assange, it’s simply a case of scorned lovers:
Before he withdrew his cooperation, Assange posed for the photo shoot that graces the memoir’s cover. He will also collect royalties from its global sales.
Statement from Canongate Books [Canongate]
Julian Assange autobiography set to be published tomorrow [Independent UK]
