sick, scum, bloodstained trash [more tags]

November 20, 2006 8:00 PM

Sick, scum, bloodstained trash [see more tags] . . . . Now that O.J.'s book has been cancelled, the book's Amazon page has become a virtual spitoon memorial wall for this "ill-considered project." One thing's for sure: O.J. did it! Or he didn't. Well, you can discuss it on over 320 forums. Or here, for that matter.
posted by spitbull (71 comments total)

is this where i type "this will end well"?
posted by Hat Maui at 8:03 PM on November 20, 2006

If the US is as violent as everyone always says, why isn't OJ dead yet?
posted by HTuttle at 8:06 PM on November 20, 2006

One of them is "fantastic."
posted by krinklyfig at 8:07 PM on November 20, 2006

This 90's nostalgia thing is going too far.
posted by jonmc at 8:09 PM on November 20, 2006

One of the tags, that is.
posted by krinklyfig at 8:09 PM on November 20, 2006

yeah the "double jeopardy" tag is pretty good too...

oops I'm sorry I should be helping to reinforce the party line and take a crap on the constitution with everyone else
posted by nervousfritz at 8:12 PM on November 20, 2006

Metafilter: Guilty when found innocent.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:12 PM on November 20, 2006

well, this will end.
posted by Mach5 at 8:12 PM on November 20, 2006

This will not wendell.
posted by taosbat at 8:12 PM on November 20, 2006

OJ in the conservatory with the lead pipe.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 8:15 PM on November 20, 2006

Racists.
posted by bardic at 8:23 PM on November 20, 2006

Oooops!
posted by The Radish at 8:28 PM on November 20, 2006

This O.J., you say it vibrates?
posted by yhbc at 8:31 PM on November 20, 2006

I can't believe someone thought this was a good idea. Someone anywhere, not just at Fox. I wonder how long they were shopping this stillborn turd around before Fox bought it and has since returned to sender?

The cancellation did make me feel good, for a second.
posted by fenriq at 8:55 PM on November 20, 2006

Well, you can discuss it on over 320 forums. Or here, for that matter.

or we could talk about pancakes ... what kind of syrup do you like on your pancakes?
posted by pyramid termite at 8:55 PM on November 20, 2006

HUCKLEBERRY.
posted by Mach5 at 8:56 PM on November 20, 2006

Do we have to?
posted by disclaimer at 8:58 PM on November 20, 2006

Okay, so where do I download the pirated version of OJ's book? Or maybe even a pirated copy of the un-broadcast interview?
posted by Clay201 at 9:02 PM on November 20, 2006

WHAT
THE
FUCK
WENDELL
posted by loquacious at 9:03 PM on November 20, 2006

Oh, I'll be this makes O.J. feel like stalking the decision-maker and stabbing her to death with her boyfriend on her doorstep pretty bad.
posted by clevershark at 9:04 PM on November 20, 2006

clevershark is OJ? Rad!
posted by loquacious at 9:05 PM on November 20, 2006

Okay, so where do I download the pirated version of OJ's book?

it's quite possible alt.binaries.e-book.* on usenet will have it in a couple of weeks ... i expect several people will get a copy and at least one of them will scan it
posted by pyramid termite at 9:07 PM on November 20, 2006

"Ill-considered project" is an anagram of "OJ circles ed. End lit pro".

His editor, a literary professional, is clearly in danger.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:24 PM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

Okay, so where do I download the pirated version of OJ's book?

You might try dropping Sir Mildred Pierce a line.
posted by Pollomacho at 9:30 PM on November 20, 2006

You'll all have to wait for my prime time special on FOX, "If I Pissed in the Coffee Machine at my Last Job..."
posted by wendell at 9:35 PM on November 20, 2006

If the coffee taste tart, don't blame Descartes [or something...]

Last?
posted by maryh at 10:17 PM on November 20, 2006

Double.
posted by lalochezia at 10:52 PM on November 20, 2006

Come fill yourself with dreams.
posted by basicchannel at 10:53 PM on November 20, 2006

I heard that the TV interview was cancelled... but the book? That's kind of odd, isn't it? A book being cancelled?
posted by brundlefly at 11:31 PM on November 20, 2006

If a Wookie lives on Endor, the book must be cancelled.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:52 PM on November 20, 2006

lalochezia: No sir. Double :-).
posted by honest knave at 12:21 AM on November 21, 2006

I can't help but notice that this is not going very well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:56 AM on November 21, 2006

Blech.
posted by owhydididoit at 1:50 AM on November 21, 2006

If the US is as violent as everyone always says, why isn't OJ dead yet?

The fact you confuse violence with justice says something.
posted by rokusan at 2:26 AM on November 21, 2006

ZOMG XTIANS LOL

sorry, it just slipped out.
posted by flabdablet at 2:37 AM on November 21, 2006

If I were to say I don't give two flying fnords about OJ or his wife, would someone snark about me caring enough to post?

If I were to say that. Hypothetically speaking.

Not that I did, of course.
posted by spazzm at 2:45 AM on November 21, 2006

OJ didn't, it was some portorican guy.
posted by darkripper at 3:20 AM on November 21, 2006

I heard that the TV interview was cancelled... but the book? That's kind of odd, isn't it? A book being cancelled?

The Massive Rupert Murdoch Owned Media Conglomerate giveth and The Massive Rupert Murdoch Owned Media Conglomerate taketh away.
posted by Dreama at 3:21 AM on November 21, 2006

Did you say something spazzm?
posted by Pollomacho at 3:22 AM on November 21, 2006

Of course not, Pollomacho.
At least, you can't prove I said anything.
posted by spazzm at 3:31 AM on November 21, 2006

virtual spitoon? eponysterical!
posted by quonsar at 4:15 AM on November 21, 2006

Two days ago I watched a replay of the 1969 Rose Bowl match up between Ohio State and USC. USC's star running back? O.J. Simpson. Coincidence? You decide.
posted by Otis at 5:21 AM on November 21, 2006

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posted by wfrgms at 5:35 AM on November 21, 2006

That did not end well.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:48 AM on November 21, 2006

Xenu says hi.
posted by ninjew at 6:59 AM on November 21, 2006

If you acquit, he can later admit...
posted by 445supermag at 7:01 AM on November 21, 2006

Well this seems to have ended.
posted by Mister_A at 7:15 AM on November 21, 2006

Maybe not. CNN seems to be saying that a few copies of the book have indeed shipped to customers but that the remaining copies may be destroyed. If that's the way it pans out, then we may all soon be downloading the thing from Pirate Bay and apologizing to Sir Mildred Pierce.
posted by Clay201 at 7:53 AM on November 21, 2006

What is so odd about a book being cancelled?
posted by lampoil at 8:08 AM on November 21, 2006

Americans will probably never forget OJ. A rich black man kills a white woman and then gets away with it because of stupid racist cops -- and then he has the audacity to brag about it. It's like the perfect poison for the country. I expect there'll still be talking about the case in fifty years.
posted by nixerman at 8:09 AM on November 21, 2006

Gives new meaning to the term "kill fee," that's for sure.
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:11 AM on November 21, 2006

What is so odd about a book being cancelled?

One of the editors of Publishers Weekly was on NPR this morning saying it's basically unheard of for a book to be cancelled because of public outcry, at least this late in the game.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:20 AM on November 21, 2006

so SHOULD we kill hitler as a baby?
posted by pyramid termite at 8:27 AM on November 21, 2006

According to this article (relevant info on the second page, at the end), the only other US book in recent memory to be cancelled due to "public outcry" was Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, which of course got picked up by a different publisher.

I remember Chomsky talking about having one of his books yanked at the last minute and all the available copies pulped. I think this was in the seventies. Also, I think the publisher was a relatively small one.
posted by Clay201 at 8:30 AM on November 21, 2006

News Corp. Offered Denise Simpson and Goldman Family "Hush Money":

"On the Today Show this morning, Nicole Brown's sister Denise, told Matt Lauer that News Corp had offered Nicole and Ron Goldman's family the proceeds of the now cancelled book by OJ Simpson titled, 'I Did It.'"

[embedded video here]

posted by ericb at 8:56 AM on November 21, 2006

News Corp executive: "The rights to the book could still be sold to another publisher." [New York Times]
posted by ericb at 8:59 AM on November 21, 2006

To stress what PinkStainlessTail said, it's unprecedented for a book to be pulled at this point. The offiicial release date is 11/30 and distributors like to have the books in their warehouses at least two weeks earlier. It was a huge print run, too, from what I've heard.
(American Psycho didn't make it past galleys, IIRC, and was also a much smaller run. And, to illustrate ericb's comment, it was indeed picked up by another publisher.)

Everyone in publishing is eager to see how this affects Judith Regan, who is widely and thoroughly loathed.
posted by vetiver at 9:12 AM on November 21, 2006

What, you didn't really think it was going to go away, did you?
posted by NationalKato at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2006

Yes, it's close to unheard of for a book to be cancelled this late in the game (after the books have been printed). And of course it doesn't happen from public outcry, because usually a book that's bad/boring enough to be cancelled never makes it to the point where the public hear about it in the first place. But it's not weird for a book to be cancelled in general. Books are cancelled all the time. You'd be surprised how last minute some average, every day cancellations are. Even if the book hasn't actually been printed yet, a LOT of resources and manhours have gone into something that will not bring in a single penny of revenue, or be read by anyone. It's just that this comment:

"That's kind of odd, isn't it? A book being cancelled?"

sounded like confusion over the cancellation of a book in general. Obviously I can see what is special about this particular cancellation.
posted by lampoil at 9:45 AM on November 21, 2006

According to Publisher's Weekly, The initial print run was 300,000.
posted by drezdn at 10:02 AM on November 21, 2006

looks like not quite all the copies that had already shipped made it back to the publisher.
posted by killy willy at 10:09 AM on November 21, 2006

my fave amazon tag: "discusting"

used twice!
posted by killy willy at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2006

I think the real question here is: why is Neil Young's Everybody knows this is Nowhere tagged as "scum"?

And, for that matter, why is Samuel Barber's elegant Knoxville: Summer of 1915 tagged as "boycott"?
posted by koeselitz at 10:12 AM on November 21, 2006

Americans will probably never forget OJ. A rich black man kills a white woman

fascism
A noun
1 fascism
a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism)


Justice can move faster than process. We can move it as fast as we want. The will of the people cannot be stopped.
posted by nervousfritz at 10:17 AM on November 21, 2006

Just to toss another grenade in here: OJ's continuing existence is a strong argument for the utter impotence of white supremacism.
posted by pax digita at 11:31 AM on November 21, 2006

nervousfritz is not ending well
posted by Snyder at 11:41 AM on November 21, 2006

Judith Regan, see, she was gonna publish the book and do the interview. She was fucking Bernard Kerick while he was NY Police Commissioner and a close political ally of Rudy G. So close that Rudy influenced the W to nominate Kerick to be the first head of the Dept of Homeland Security but that all fell apart when the affair was revealed.

If Kerick had been a close political ally of Bill Clinton do you think the press would be as reticent to mention the connection?
posted by wrapper at 11:55 AM on November 21, 2006

OJ DID IT
posted by soyjoy at 12:33 PM on November 21, 2006

Mod note: removed sully's comment & follow-ups
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:55 PM on November 21, 2006

No, darkripper, it was "some Puerto Bello guy".

(or gal . )
posted by Pinback at 4:09 PM on November 21, 2006

nervousfritz is not wendell.
posted by taosbat at 7:55 PM on November 21, 2006