In what can hardly be called a big surprise the ghost written OJ Simpson book If I Did It has been made over and reissued right in the middle of OJ’s latest skirmish with the law.
This second imprint has all of the original content with some additional commentary from the Goldman family concerning the new debacle that OJ has got himself into.
I had heard on the literary grapevine that a new version was in the works, and through an unrelated venture I happen to know the publisher. One would think that with the high profile that If I Did It had on its first release, there would have been more hoopla this time around. For those of you not familiar with the story here is a quick recap. Harper Collins were scheduled to be the original publisher, and reputedly paid Simpson via a shell company a $1 million advance. Public outcry, fueled in many ways by the Goldman family, and a law suit gave Harper Collins cold feet, and had their executives reaching for the bottle of Tums. They pulled out and destroyed the 400,000 copies they had printed, and ready for the book stores.
A small publishing house, Beaufort books stepped up to the plate and agreed to act as publisher. I thought this was an odd decision at the time, Owner Eric Kampmann is hardly a risk taker, one only has to read his latest book Trail Thoughts to see that. He is a quiet contemplative guy. My sources tell me that he took on the project only because he knew the Goldman family. When I talked to Eric I asked him about If I Did It, and he was somewhat reserved, saying that he had not expected the backlash, etc.
The book did make it to the bestseller list though. I have had some dealings with Fred Goldman, this is a man with a mission. He has made it his life work to dog OJ Simpson, and I applaud him for it. OJ has slipped the noose one too many times. So it came as no surprise that a new version of If I Did It was slated for release to coincide with the Las Vegas trial. What did surprise me was the amount of difficulty I had obtaining the updated version. I had the gist of the changes months ago, but getting a copy, even electronic, was a battle royal. It seemed that the publisher had lost interest in the project.
There may be another reason for the lack of publicity. Random house recently pulled plans to act as publisher of The Jewel Of Medina after being advised that the content could incite violence from with the extreme Islamic community. The Jewel is a novel about the life and loves of the Prophet Mohammad. Beaufort has taken on the project, and it is slated for a mid October release date. The company has been under a state of siege following the bombing in London, England of the planned British publishers home. An event that almost certainly was connected to The Jewel. While some books are just controversial as is the case with If I Did It, others are potentially dangerous. The Jewel seems set to take the same path as Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.
The literary rumor mill is claiming that Beaufort temporarily suspended operations earlier this week in order to confer with Law Enforcement agencies.
What could have become a huge PR problem for OJ has instead passed gently by. One wonders why? OJ has the credibility of a three day old donut, but he seems to be able to dodge the bullets. This latest trial is no exception, he is charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, and a raft of other felonious crimes. It looked like a slam dunk, but when the accuser turns up in prison garb and chains, somehow the credibility level drops.
The publishing world was eagerly awaiting this reprint, and I for one was ready to come out swinging, I like Fred Goldman, and sadly this case represents all that is wrong with our judicial system. I feel sorry for the Goldman family, they have lost a son, and the sons only problem was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killer is obvious, if your IQ exceeds your hat size (10) there is only one suspect. Actually he is not a suspect, he is the killer. OJ Simpson is as guilty as he was great football player. He owns many NFL records, but the one that likely will remain for some years is ‘most people killed in a single evening’.
I think that it is unfortunate that once again OJ will walk away, no doubt to resume his search for the golf caddy that killed his ex wife Nicole and Ron Goldman. OJ is firmly convinced it was a caddy, after all it is only golf courses that he spends his time on! I suppose that the extended time on the golf course might be on doctors orders, a therapy for the severe arthritis that his team of lawyers played on in order to get him off on the original criminal trial. Interestingly enough, he has cleared all the golf caddy’s in California, he never plays there. Or, could it be that if he stepped foot in California he might have to pay up some of the $30 million plus owing the Goldman family from their civil suit?
I would love to say something like “OJ Simpson refused to comment when BNN contacted himâ€, but I can not. It would take some serious Guantanamo Bay Waterboarding fun park rides to get me to talk to this man. And I will pretty much interview anyone!
Simon Barrett
5 users commented in " (if) I Did It – OJ Simpson Book Makes A Timely Reappearance "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackJust a comment. I like this blog and appreciate your reference to Trail Thoughts. The Goldman’s were just on the View as well as Dr Phil. Sales are starting to build. We were quiet initially because we felt it was an appropriate way to release the paperback. We will continue to publicize it and hope it too become a bestseller. We love the new content that has been added to the paper edition. It is an even better book than the original hardcover. As for the office, we are open and operating. But we are trying to be vigilant. Again, thank you for the review. Eric
There’s something inherently bent with you OJ haters. I’m sure there are a lot of you would like to return to the days when you didn’t leave guilt or innocence to a jury, but just grabbed the n*gger and hang his ass because you KNOW he’s guilty.
Us poor fools who keep insisting that someone’s guilt be proved in a court of law, using rules of evidence and get the conviction of a jury–what a great country you’d have if you could just get rid of us.
And the dementia that allows folks to claim it has nothing to do with race–it’s all about the crime. Don’t recall any stories about Robert Blake being called murderer when he sits down to eat at a restaurant.
Now you’re all salivating at the idea that he could spend the rest of his life in jail for going to a hotel where scuzz were trying to sell stuff stolen from his kids. Except that everyone who’s testifying against him is slimier than he is
Anyone who watched the first trial would be a lot less afraid of OJ as murder wandering the streets than they would be of a police force that can ignore the Fourth Amendment to enter your home; carry a vial of your blood to the scene of the crime and to your home in their pocket during the investigation, before checking it in to the police lab, and then have the nerve to attempt to use blood evidence in the case; and have the nerve on the stand to testify that it’s their belief that they don’t have to worry about what the search warrant says, once they’re in the house, they can pretty much look for anything they want.
I was the only black guy in my IT class on the day of the verdict, and when I arrived that afternoon, everyone was waiting to see what I thought of the decision. My comment: “I am proud to live in a country where a rich black man can afford the same level of justice as a rich white man.”
huston3
You wrote: “And the dementia that allows folks to claim it has nothing to do with race–it’s all about the crime. Don’t recall any stories about Robert Blake being called murderer when he sits down to eat at a restaurant.”
I believe that the Blake trial was lukewarm mostly because Blake – even at the highest point of his so-called career – never was the extremely popular, talented, charismatic star that OJ was. And Blake now seems to be an aged, addled and very sad has-been. The woman he was accused of killing engendered absolutely no sympathy – a manipulative, blackmailing, cheating, lying, well, you know, who used her baby to try to enrich herself! Neither of them interested the public that much.
But a lot of people of all races liked OJ. Many couldn’t believe he’d done it at first. And then the evidence started piling up. And that’s what the case hinged on – the evidence.
It’s not a matter of racism. It’s a question of believing if the evidence was real or manufactured. I think your response to your classmates that day shows that you believe he did it – but got the so-called “justice” of a rich person who can buy it. If that isn’t equality, I don’t know what is. And the sign of a truly loused up legal system.
Puhleeze–you do nothing but embarrass yourself with the denial. Robert Blake worked constantly in movies and TV from his childhook in the 30s, through the mid ’80s, when he chose to walk away from his second hit TV show. He won an Emmy for Baretta the same year OJ set his 2,000 yd/season rushing mark. Sure OJ is famous, but you’re talking about a guy who’s had tons of accolades from his TV and movie career, with almost 50 years of the spotlight. His last role was in a David Lynch movie, in a role that was said to be inspired by the OJ case.
Just because YOU are too young to remember, don’t doubt Blake’s popularity. And the words “aged addled and very sad has been” have been used by some on OJ.
Fact is, husbands kill heir wives every day. Just like kids go missing every day. It takes an angle, something extraordinary, to make the particular crime pop. With OJ, it was black ex-superstar kills white wife. The subhead, seen everyone who is black was watching white Amerca bifurcate, with many trying to pretend the race made no difference whatsoever, while others had their minds made up instantly because of his race.
You HONESTLY think that people don’t give Blake sh*t for killing his wife because she was unsympathetic?
The heat came from OJ moving from being the “nice” black guy that white people felt good about, to being the “other.”
The “evidence” that piled up was the blood (a vial of which the lead detectives took from OJ and then visited the crime scene and OJ’s house. And a pair of gloves, one of which was left at the scene of the crime, and the other which was left conveniently at the side of OJ’s house (though he was magically able to make all the bloody clothes disappear, along with the murder weapon. (Jeez, if he’d had tossed it down a sewer drain, or over the fence, but ON HIS OWN PROPERTY–the ONLY link to the crime that would allow the police to enter his home without a warrant?
MY response to my classmates indicated my lack of interest in the crime, relative to the trampling of the Fourth Amendment and the immediate decision so much of white America seemed to make even before the glove was found on his property. My response was indicative of exactly what I said, if OJ was white with his money, he would have gotten reasonable doubt, mush as Blake did.
My disgust now comes from how folks only believe in the system when it gives them the result THEY want. Well, now you can rest happy, he’s going to jail for the rest of his life, for “kidnapping.” You must be so proud.
[…] at first glance seems to welcome controversy. Last year it was the OJ Simpson ghost written book If I Did It, a book that ended up in the court system, and became the property of the Goldman family. The […]
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