Talk Of Sydney Ban As Copies Dry Up

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday February 23, 1989

By JAMES COCKINGTON

Since Ayatollah Khomeini helped turn Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses into headline news, public demand for the book is at fever pitch.

Ironically, copies of the book in Sydney are very rare. A plane-load of hardcover copies, express-freighted from England and retailing for $35, is expected to go on sale later next week. But who will put it on their shelves?

The Dymocks chain of bookshops has decided it will not stock the book. Other retailers are expected to follow suit.

According to one book industry source, the major retailers are talking among themselves and may be considering a blanket ban on the book's sale.

"On the one hand, it's not our right to censor the book," said a manager of a major city store who asked not to be named. "On the other hand, we wonder whether we should put our staff and the public at risk.

"There's a point where the dollars don't matter. There is general agreement that we should be careful about it."

While there have been no violent protests from the local Islamic community, booksellers fear this could happen if the book is openly available.

Not one bookshop contacted had a copy in stock. The City of Sydney Library in Pitt Street has one, but no-one can borrow it yet. It should be available in a few weeks' time. There have already been a number of inquiries.

The Ariel Bookshop in Paddington reports about 10 requests a day for copies. Since the newspaper stories broke, it claims "every third or fourth person asks about it". It has 200 copies on back order.

In Parramatta, Collins Booksellers says "about a million people every day"are asking for copies.

Penguin Books, which holds the publishing rights to the book, has already received 2,500 orders from booksellers around Australia for the $35 hardcover edition. According to Penguin's head office in Melbourne, these should be on the shelves from early next week.

Penguin says there are no immediate plans to release a paperback version, although some booksellers say they expect to receive paperback editions around November.