Dangerous (book)
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 Cover | |
| Author | Milo Yiannopoulos |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Dangerous Books (self-published) |
Publication date | July 4, 2017 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 978-0-692-89344-9 |
Dangerous is a self-published book[1] by British media personality Milo Yiannopoulos, released on July 4, 2017.
The book was originally due for release on June 13, 2017, by Threshold Editions, a division of Simon & Schuster, but its release was canceled on February 20 due to an audio release in which Yiannopoulos praised aspects of pedophilia as having a positive impact on children.[1][2] A day after its announcement, pre-sales for the book briefly elevated it to first place on Amazon.com's list of best-sellers.[3] It returned to number one on February 1, 2017, a day after a violent disturbance occurred at UC Berkeley which deterred Yiannopoulos from speaking there.[4][5]
Dangerous was the first book to be published under Yiannopoulos's name; he previously wrote two poetry books under the pseudonym Milo Andreas Wagner.[6][7] Two previous book projects, which he had announced, never came to fruition.[8][9] Yiannopoulos received a $250,000 advance payment from Simon & Schuster for the book according to The Hollywood Reporter.[10]
An early draft manuscript of the book was obtained by BuzzFeed News, which asserted the work contained numerous instances of self-plagiarism.[11] Yiannopoulos responded, telling BuzzFeed "I will publish a book of Breitbart columns. Dangerous is a completely original, almost 70,000-word book."[11] According to leaked emails from Yiannopoulos obtained by BuzzFeed, Yiannopoulos paid his Breitbart collaborator Allum Bokhari $100,000 to ghostwrite the book.[12][13][14] Yiannopoulos denies this allegation.[15]
Announcement of the book drew outcry from more than 100 Simon & Schuster authors,[16] including Tim Federle, Rainbow Rowell, and Danielle Henderson.[17] Roxane Gay pulled her book from Simon & Schuster, stating that she was not interested in doing business with a publisher willing to give Yiannopoulos a platform.[16] The Chicago Review of Books announced that they would not be reviewing Simon & Schuster's books in 2017 and others called for a boycott.[9][18]
Simon & Schuster posted a statement on social media on December 30, on its decision to publish Yiannopoulos stating: "We do not and never have condoned discrimination or hate speech in any form. At Simon & Schuster we have always published books by a wide range of authors with greatly varying, and frequently controversial opinions, and appealing to many different audiences of readers. While we are cognizant that many may disagree vehemently with the books we publish we note that the opinions expressed therein belong to our authors, and we do not reflect either a corporate viewpoint or the views of our employees."[19][20]
On January 12, 2017, 160 Simon & Schuster children's book authors and illustrators published a letter to publisher Carolyn Reidy and the leadership at Simon & Schuster about Threshold's decision. The letter first praised Simon & Schuster for which they described as publishing "the strongest, most diverse list it can acquire, for the betterment of literature and children everywhere." It then went on to criticize the Threshold Editions imprint and its decision to publish Yiannopoulos's book which would associated Simon & Schuster as a whole with Threshold's decision to "legitimize this reprehensible belief system."[21]
Release
In a press release on May 26, 2017, Yiannopoulos announced that the book would be published by his publishing company, Dangerous Books, on July 4, 2017.[22] Soon after the announcement, the book was once again the best-selling book on Amazon.[1][23] The book's launch was originally intended as an event at the Jue Lan Club. However, on June 23, 2017, the owner of Jue Lan Club cancelled the event after realizing that the event was about Yiannopoulos's book-launch and not a "Gay Pride" event.[24]
Reception
Jocelyn McClurg of USA Today gave Dangerous a score of two out of four stars, saying that the book is simultaneously "very funny" and "boring". McClurg suggested that a more entertaining book by Yiannopoulos could be dedicated to his "hilarious" musings on President Donald Trump, whom Yiannopoulos refers to as "Daddy", and that such a book could be named "My Big 'Daddy' Issues".[25] Writing for the "Digested Read" column of The Guardian, John Crace wrote that Yiannopoulos came off as "desperate" in his writings.[26]
The book was a New York Times,[27] Wall Street Journal[28] and USA Today[29] best seller. The book peaked at No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's nonfiction bestseller list and at No. 2 on The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list,[30] staying on The New York Times list for five weeks.[31] In its debut release on July 4, 2017, the book sold just over 18,000 copies, and not 100,000 as suggested by Yiannopoulos,[32] and temporarily went out of stock on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, where it peaked at No. 1 and No. 68 of their bestseller list respectively.[33][34]