A Book Too Hot Off The Presses

Publishing insiders are of two minds on the cancellation of "Jewel," with many calling it alarming, despite the violence that followed the 2005 publication of Danish cartoons about Islam and the worldwide fatwah inspired by Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel, "The Satanic Verses." (Rushdie is alive, but one translator of the novel was killed and another injured.)

"It's a commentary on the times we live in . . . in this frightened time, it's a much more loaded and charged time in history than it even was then [when Rushdie's book was published]," said Sara Nelson, a blogger for Publishers Weekly, noting that Jones is not the literary figure Rushdie is or was. "It's understandable they would do it but it still raises troubling issues about publishers' responsibilities to free speech and non-censorship."

And besides, she said, "They commissioned this book and knew what it would be about, and it's surprising to me that they didn't think of this a long time ago."

Some progressive Muslims, including feminist journalist Asra Nomani, think too much emphasis is being placed on the notion of Muhammad and Aisha as sexual beings.

"Okay, so this isn't the next great piece of literature, but it pushes the ball forward in challenging dogmatic ideas about how you can relate to Islam," Nomani said in an interview this week. "We need movement from this static relationship we have with Islam. . . . Look, Mary and Mary Magdalene have taken hits and survived somehow."

Carol Schneider, the Random House spokeswoman, said that after hearing from Spellberg, the company called security consultants and Islamic scholars, "all but one of whom expressed strong concern."

Though the book is fiction, Schneider said, Spellberg's criticisms were relevant: "Denise is a historian, but what she brought up wasn't historical inaccuracies but inflammatory passages."

On May 21, Ballantine called Jones to say the Aug. 12 publishing date should be postponed. Days later, publication was canceled.

Recently, Jones got a boost when a Serbian publisher agreed to print 1,000 copies, but within 24 hours said it wouldn't do another run after protests from a Belgrade mufti, or Islamic scholar. Soon another mufti was quoted as saying the first one was using the book to pander to orthodox Muslims. Kern says publishers in Hungary, Russia, Italy and Spain have purchased rights to print the book, but are waiting to see what happens in Serbia.

"This has taught me something I've been trying to learn my whole life," Jones said. "To accept life as it happens. I'm not in control of any of this."