Canongate have clearly taken a calculated risk with this book. I'm fascinated by this story, not because Assange is particularly interesting to me, but because he is not. I can't see why anyone thought he was worth the amounts being offered and talked about. But Jamie Byng, who has proven himself to be adept at making money out of books, and who is when all is said and done a bold player, if nothing else, did.
Then there is the mess left behind by the book not being delivered... well, let's be honest, this is a publishing car crash and few could resist slowing down and craning our necks to see who is splattered across what windscreen.
I wondered last week whether this book might endanger Canongate. Right now I doubt that will be the case: the numbers being talked about are damaging but I doubt they'll be fatal.
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