The “autobiography in 2007″ won’t be published here

Or will it? But as the Bookseller reports, Penguin UK is certainly trumping up its acquisition of Fidel Castro‘s life story, slated to hit bookstores on March 29th. Take such claims with many grains of salt, but the publisher, who bought the book from Mondadori in a pre-emptive bid before the manuscript was finished, promises “frank discussion of everything from Castro’s earliest influences to his relationship with Che Guevara, his views of other world leaders, and his thoughts on issues such as the death penalty and homosexuality.”

Journalist Ignacio Ramonet conducted a series of interviews for the book with Castro, who worked with him on the text which is told in Castro’s words. Editor Will Goodlad at Allen Lane said: “Ramonet managed to do what everyone has tried to do before: get Fidel to sit down and talk through his whole life story.”

As for why the book isn’t done yet: extra material is being added to the UK edition following events since Spanish publication earlier this year: Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul in July after intestinal surgery.

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