Book pulled after journalist points out startling error

Writer Naomi Wolf and her US publisher have split amid a dispute over her latest book, Outrages.

Wolf and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced separately last Friday that they had "mutually and amicably agreed to part company" and that Houghton would not be releasing the book which centres on the treatment of gays in Victorian England.

Neither Wolf nor Houghton immediately provided additional comment beyond the publisher confirming that rights for Outrages had reverted to Wolf, who can now pursue a deal with a new publisher.

Outrages had already come out in the United Kingdom when Wolf was challenged in May by a BBC interviewer.

BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking host Matthew Sweet told Wolf he believes she misunderstood the term “death recorded” and had assumed it meant the men had been executed.

However, it actually means the person was pardoned and the judge had abstained from handing down the death penalty.

“I don’t think any of the executions you’ve identified here actually happened,” Sweet told Wolf.

Sweet also pointed out a case regarding a 14-year-old detailed in the book.

Houghton had delayed a planned June release of Outrages after questions emerged over the scholarship of the book. Houghton initially planned to publish Outrages as scheduled, but soon changed its mind, announcing that "new questions have arisen."

He said while the book suggested the teen was executed he was actually discharged.

The presenter added the teen had also been charged with indecent assault and was facing court over a sexual act which wasn’t consensual - not for being a homosexual as suggested in the book.

Sweet also questioned whether Wolf understood the term “sodomy”, suggesting none of the relationships detailed in Outrages were actually consensual same-sex relationships.

Wolf has acknowledged some errors, but contended they were fixable and openly objected to the postponement. She even promoted "Outrages" on her own in the US, with attendees offered the chance to buy the UK edition.

Publishers rarely fact-check books, citing time and expense.

Wolf, known for such best-sellers as "The Beauty Myth" and "Misconceptions", has had her scholarship challenged before. In "The Beauty Myth," she wrote that anorexia caused the deaths of 150,000 women a year, a number widely regarded as inflated.

With The Associated Press

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