LONDON/EWORLDWIRE/Feb. 14, 2006 --- The long wait for J.D. Salinger's new novel is over. At least, that is what they're saying in London.Following the sensational outing of Oprah-endorsed author James Frey, the question in London's literary world is, "Who's next?"
The answer, according to those who claim to be in the know, is a former CNN journalist whose alleged first novel has been garnering feverish word of mouth - even before its official publication.
The book is The Dream of the Decade - The London Novels by former CNN journalist Afshin Rattansi and was published by a new division of the Internet retailing giant Amazon. Critics have commented on literary concordance studies, comparing the prose of Salinger's later short fiction with The Dream of the Decade. Concordance is a statistical technique used to compare frequencies of words and clauses between writers to reveal hidden distribution patterns in literary works.
Rattansi, who was unavailable for comment, has been doing interviews about the book in Europe and has dodged the question. If it is Rattansi's novel, which looks at issues of alienation, terrorism and the frightening sensationalism of the mass media, it is a strong debut.
The dust-jacket for Rattansi's first-time effort carries endorsements from the editors of globally recognised canonical names like Martin Amis, Richard Ford, Ian McEwan, Haruki Murakami, Georges Perec, Salman Rushdie and Jose Saramago.
It has long been accepted that London's publishing scene is not all it seems. But the Frey scandal is adding volume to what were once just whispers amongst London's commissioning editors. London's media clubs are buzzing with speculation and intrigue.
And with the city's spring Book Fair just around the corner, the rumours will only multiply.
It has been widely reported that Salinger continues to write. The New Yorker says that there are tales of a room-sized safe filled with manuscripts even though he hasn't published any of them. "Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy," he said in a rare interview in 1974.
"The Catcher in the Rye" is still, 55 years on, in the top 200 of the Amazon.com bestseller list.
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