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Woody Allen’s memoir has found a new publisher after being dropped by original partners Hachette.
Apropos of Nothing was originally dropped amid a backlash over accusations that Allen abused adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.
However, Arcade Publishing will now release the memoir, which contains a postscript in which Allen claims Hachette agreed to originally publish it even though it was aware he was a “toxic pariah and menace to society”.
“When actual flak did arrive they thoughtfully reassessed their position and dumped the book like it was a hunk of Xenon 135,” he writes (via Associated Press and IndieWire).
He also alleges that the sexual assault allegations were part of an “Ahab-like quest” of revenge by former partner Mia Farrow.
“I never laid a finger on Dylan, never did anything to her that could be even misconstrued as abusing her; it was a total fabrication from start to finish.”
He also says that the fallout “plays into my poetic fantasies to be an artist whose work isn’t seen in his own country and is forced, because of injustice, to have his public abroad. Henry Miller comes to mind. D.H. Lawrence. James Joyce. I see myself standing amongst them defiantly. It’s about at that point my wife wakes me up and says, ‘You’re snoring.’”
Arcade Publishing editor Jeannette Seaver said of the decision to publish the memoir: “In this strange time, when truth is too often dismissed as ‘fake news,’ we as publishers prefer to give voice to a respected artist, rather than bow to those determined to silence him.”
The original dropping by Hachette was preceded by a walkout by staff members over the memoir, as well as criticism from Dylan and brother Ronan Farrow, the latter of whom parted ways with the publisher over the decision to publish.
“The decision to cancel Mr. Allen’s book was a difficult one,” the company subsequently said, adding that they “take [their] relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly.”
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