MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
February 15-29, 2004 Edition
Riverhead Books and UK’s
Penguin Press Acquire World
Rights to Steven Johnson’s Book
NEW YORK, NY/2/10/04Sean McDonald, Senior Editor at Riverhead Books, in conjunction with Stefan McGrath, Managing Director of Penguin Press in the UK, and Helen Conford, Editor at Penguin Press in the UK, acquired World Rights to EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU by Steven Johnson (author of MIND WIDE OPEN) from Lydia Wills of Writers and Artists Group International.
The book makes a witty and whip-smart case for various “villainized” aspects of popular culture-from video games to reality TV to surveillance-arguing that, rather than “dumbing down” society, they play important roles in making us smarter. EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU is expected to be published in 2005.
Mr. Johnson is also the author of MIND WIDE OPEN: YOUR BRAIN AND THE NEUROSCIENCE OF EVERYDAY LIFE, EMERGENCE: THE CONNECTED LIVES OF ANTS, BRAINS, CITIES, AND SOFTWARE, and INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY: HOW NEW TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMS THE WAY WE CREATE. EMERGENCE was a finalist for the 2002 Helen Bernstein Award in Journalism and was a NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of 2001, as well as a “best book of the year” in DISCOVER, ESQUIRE, THE WASHINGTON POST, AND THE VILLAGE VOICE.
Johnson was named by Newsweek as one of the “50 People Who Matter Most on the Internet.” He writes the monthly “Emerging Technology” column for DISCOVER and is a contributing editor at WIRED. Johnson’s writing has also appeared in THE NEW YORKER, THE NATION, HARPER’S, and THE LONDON GUARDIAN, as well as on the op-ed pages of THE NEW YORK TIMES and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
