Muslims Attack Feminist Writer
Incensed Muslims assaulted Taslima Nasreen, the exiled Bangladeshi author and feminist, at a publication party at the press club in Hyderabad, India, yesterday, Reuters reported. Lawmakers and members of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party, outraged by her criticisms of Islam and religion in general for oppression of women, threatened Ms. Nasreen with a chair and hurled a leather case, bunches of flowers and other objects at her while some shouted for her death. With her forehead bruised, she described the attack as barbaric before the police moved her to safety. In 1994 thousands of radical Muslims demanded Ms. Nasreen’s death for blasphemy, and she fled into exile after a court declared that she had “deliberately and maliciously” injured the religious feelings of Muslims with her Bengali-language novel “Lajja,” or “Shame,” about riots between Muslims and Hindus. The European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 1994.
Two Bushes in a Book Deal
Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna will write a children’s book for HarperCollins. The book, as yet untitled, to be published in English and Spanish in the spring, is set in a school where a mischievous little boy learns the fun of reading with the help of his teacher. An announcement yesterday from HarperCollins said the story, with illustrations by Denise Brunkus, is loosely based on the authors’ experiences as teachers. Their net proceeds and a portion of the publisher’s proceeds are to go to two national teacher programs.
Pavarotti Is Hospitalized
Luciano Pavarotti has been hospitalized in stable condition with a fever in Modena, Italy, his hometown, The Associated Press reported. The local daily, Il Resto del Carlino, reported that he was suffering from pneumonia. Officials and his manager said Mr. Pavarotti, 71, who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer last year, was expected to be released in a few days.
A Van Halen Tour?
Van Halen, re-formed around its original frontman, David Lee Roth, will embark on a 50-date North American tour in October, The Associated Press reported, citing Billboard Magazine’s Web site, www.billboard.com. Neither the band nor the touring company Live Nation would confirm the report, but the band sent out a news release promising “an announcement of monumental proportions” at a news conference on Monday in Los Angeles, The A.P. said. Van Halen has not toured with Mr. Roth in more than 20 years.
Dancer Pleads Guilty
Nilas Martins, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and the son of Peter Martins, the company’s master in chief, pleaded guilty yesterday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct stemming from his arrest there on July 3, when he was charged with felony possession of cocaine. City Court Judge Douglas Mills sentenced Mr. Martins, 40, to 40 hours of community service and ordered him to undergo a drug and alcohol test. Outside of court, his lawyer, E. Stewart Jones Jr., said Mr. Martins welcomed the test. “He does not use drugs,” Mr. Jones said. “He has not used drugs. He will never, ever use drugs.” He added that Mr. Martins took the plea to protect another, unidentified person who was with him in his car when he was arrested by a passing police officer in Saratoga Springs, where the company was in summer residence.
Words Are Music for Fox
Fox’s “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” posted Wednesday’s top ratings among adults 18 to 49, as the network led the night in that demographic. CBS won in total viewers, as its “Criminal Minds” rerun tied the lyrics game show with 8.8 million viewers in the 9 o’clock hour, according to Nielsen’s estimates. At 8, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” (7.6 million) ranked No. 1 in the 18 to 49 set, while the official time-period premiere of CBS’s “Power of 10” earned a slightly larger audience in the hour (7.8 million). NBC finished third for the night in total viewers but edged out CBS for second place among adults 18 to 49. BENJAMIN TOFF
Not Making Money in His Sleep
In his heyday in the 1990s, the money manager Dana Giacchetto charmed clients like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, the band Phish and Michael Ovitz — until he was caught defrauding them, for which he served about three years of a nearly five-year prison sentence. Last year Robert L. Geltzer, the court-appointed trustee for Mr. Giacchetto’s bankrupt company, Cassandra Group, unearthed a book deal in which Mr. Giacchetto was to split the proceeds with Emily White, his biographer. Mr. Geltzer sued, and in a settlement to be filed with bankruptcy court today, Mr. Giacchetto, 44, has turned over his stake in her book, “You Will Make Money in Your Sleep: The Story of Dana Giacchetto, Financial Adviser to the Stars,” and the rights to his life story in any film or television production to satisfy claims against Cassandra Group. Whether the settlement will raise much money is doubtful. The book has sold only 300 copies since its June publication by Scribner, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70 percent of retail sales. DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Footnote
The New York Philharmonic will admit the public free to Avery Fisher Hall at 9:45 a.m. on Sept. 18 for the dress rehearsal of its gala opening night concert. Lorin Maazel, the music director, will rehearse the ensemble in an all-Dvorak program, including the Cello Concerto, featuring Yo-Yo Ma; the “Carnival Overture”; and Symphony No. 7. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come-first-served basis, beginning at 8 a.m. in front of the hall.
