Well, this is one way to promote your book. Verso, publisher of Karen Finley's forthcoming George & Martha, a "political satire which imagines a torrid hotel room encounter between George W. Bush and Martha Stewart on the eve of the Republican National Convention," has issued a press release claiming the Nation cancelled a story on the book because the assigned freelance writer was "offended by the anal sex":

Interestingly, anal sex is never portrayed in the book. ... We are shocked and dismayed that a journalist from one of the few progressive magazines in the US finds a critique of imperialism and sexism offensive ... we're offended by the suggestion that anal sex is offensive! Who would have thought that a Nation journalist would have so much in common with all those Right wing bigots who have complained about the sexuality in Brokeback Mountain?

The Nation, however, says it's phantom hype, not phantom sex, that Verso and co. are after:

We did not cancel the web piece. The writer bowed out of the assignment. This sort of thing happens all the time. When we found out that the writer did not want to do the piece, we offered to excerpt a portion of the book on our website. Then we even offered to have someone else interview Karen Finley. Verso never responded to these offers.

Now we're finding out Verso sent out a press release in an attempt to hype the book by creating a phony controversy. As Verso should have known, the statements of a freelance web writer do not reflect the views of the magazine. No one on the staff of The Nation is afraid of sex. In fact, we quite enjoy it as frequently as possible. If Verso ever responds to our offer, we will be happy to post something about George & Martha."

A spokesman for the Nation now says they will likely run "something" — an excerpt or interview — next month on the website. George & Martha is due April 13.

The Nation