Jonathan Ball Author Twis?
Alert! The Times is reporting that star Jonathan Ball authors Paul Holden (The Arms Deal in Your Pocket) and Jeremy Gordin (Zuma: a Biography) are embroiled in a dispute over a question to do with the source material for Gordin’s text.
In a story filed under the attention-grabbing headline, “Zuma biography caught in scandal”, books journo Tymon Smith outlines a case that suggests Gordin’s book does not adequately acknowledge Holden’s, despite carrying two citations of The Arms Deal in Your Pocket, in the Zuma introduction and its chapter on the arms deal (where the citation reads: “Much of what follows is based on [Holden's] work”).
Further complicating the matter is the fact that the books were edited by the same person, Frances Perryer.
So far, the “p word” hasn’t been mentioned and, to judge by the quotes that Smith runs, both authors seem to prefer resolving the matter internally, so perhaps the use of the term “scandal” was a touch strong:
PUBLISHER Jonathan Ball is faced with the prickly situation of having two of its authors embroiled in a spat over footnoting in stocking fillers, just days ahead of the launch of the first full-length biography of ANC president Jacob Zuma.
A review published in The Weekender last week extolled the virtues of award-winning journalist and Zuma biographer Jeremy Gordin, describing him as “an original thinker whose inclination is to challenge the prevailing orthodoxy”.
However, that “original thinking” might include utilising information from another author without proper acknowledgement or footnotes.
The other author is Paul Holden, whose book, The Arms Deal in Your Pocket, has been liberally used by Gordin in his Zuma: A Biography.
Final note: the comments underneath Smith’s story make for a fascinating plunge into the bizarro, Manichean world of Zuma lovers and haters. Very few, if any, of the comments address the substance of Smith’s piece: the mere fact that the name “Zuma” is involved blots everything else out.
Book Details
- Zuma: A biography by Jeremy Gordin
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EAN: 9781868422630
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- The Arms Deal in Your Pocket by Paul Holden
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EAN: 9781868423132
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Photo courtesy The Times
Apr
