Who Will Buy This Book?

The New York Observer reports that Mary Mapes is shopping a book that defends the use of the "Killian" memos and contends that they are legitimate. Link.

The book will constitute Ms. Mapes’ defense against charges of journalistic misconduct. According to Wesley Neff, president of the literary and lecture agency that is representing Ms. Mapes, the producer plans to argue for the veracity of the four memos supposedly typed by President Bush’s former National Guard squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, in the early 1970’s.

The independent panel that investigated the segment for CBS did not reach a verdict on those memos, which were at the center of the scandal. In its Jan. 10 report, the panel wrote that it could not conclude "with absolute certainty whether the Killian documents are authentic or forgeries."

You have to feel sorry for a publisher who buys a book that later proves to be a fraud, but how can you feel sorry for a publisher who buys a book that was proven to be a fraud before the rights were purchased. If anyone wants the rights to this clunker, I have some underwater real estate that you really should have a look at.