I wanted to write a follow-up to two other blog posts I wrote back last summer. The story at that point was as follows: Sherry Jones writes The Jewel of Medina, a historical novel that features one of Mohammad’s wives. She sells it to Random House. Random House sends an advance copy to Islamic scholar Denise Spellberg for blurbing. Spellberg doesn’t like the book. Really doesn’t like the book. As in, let’s make panicked phone calls to Random House saying that everyone is doomed and would be killed off by crazy Muslims if they dared publish it. Random House folds and kills the book.
Now, since then, Sherry Jones has found other publishers for The Jewel of Medina and you know what? Those stupid radical Islamists don’t even have the decency to show up at a book singing. In fact, far from Spellberg’s alarmist apocalyptic prophesies that the publishers of such an evil inflammatory tome were in dire danger for their lives, the worst thing to happen to anyone because of this book was a mailbox fire in the UK and a couple of bad reviews
I said that, at best, Professor Spellberg’s reaction was disingenuous bigotry. After being so wrong, and wrong in such a stereotypical OMG TERROIZT!!! way, I think her employer should review her credentials. I mean this woman’s degreed in Islamic studies? Really?
(Thanks to the Smart Bitches for reminding me of this story.)
