# Woody Allen's autobiography cancelled by publisher **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028 "2020-03-06T21:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/21 "2020-03-07T23:52:59Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Well, this will launch the expected back-and-forth on all the forums and comment sections: > > Woody’s weird! > Mia’s weirder! > Dylan was coached! > Soon-Yi! > Ronan is too credulous! He was only three! > He’s really Frankie’s kid! > I never liked his movies anyway! > Molesters are never one-and-done! > It’s “fora”, not “forums”! > Only if you speak Latin! > > This is my contribution. Nice, but you forgot “Cancel Culture is morally dubious.” ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/22 "2020-03-08T17:01:26Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Well, this will launch the expected back-and-forth on all the forums and comment sections: > > Woody’s weird! > Mia’s weirder! > Dylan was coached! > Soon-Yi! > Ronan is too credulous! He was only three! > He’s really Frankie’s kid! > I never liked his movies anyway! > Molesters are never one-and-done! > It’s “fora”, not “forums”! > Only if you speak Latin! > > This is my contribution. Yeah, we really just need a commonly accepted shorthand, like “Argument #27”. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/23 "2020-03-08T17:11:22Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > If I saw someone reading it I would wonder if they too were a pedophile, or just utterly lacking in sensitivity and empathy. I’m probably not the only one who would, so maybe just read it at home. Yeah, not a single biography of Hitler has been published since 1945, for very similar reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/24 "2020-03-08T18:26:05Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > If I saw someone reading it I would wonder if they too were a pedophile, or just utterly lacking in sensitivity and empathy. I’m probably not the only one who would, so maybe just read it at home. That’s absurd. Besides the fact that he’s been cleared of molesting a child, Woody Allen is sort of known for something other than his weird marriage. And even if it was a book about a man who was famous for being a creep, the idea that you’d ascribe such motivations to a reader of a book is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/25 "2020-03-08T21:28:16Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > When is Hachette bringing out the Roman Polanski memoir? When they hire his latest 13-year-old [del]victim[/del] GF to edit. BTW [Hachette’s owner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagard%C3%A8re_Group), besides focusing on media, has built aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, race cars, and electric bikes. But media seems more remunerative. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/26 "2020-03-09T17:28:21Z")
His French publisher wants to continue with the book: > [@](#): > > Éditions Stock is hoping to go ahead with publication on 29 April, according to French reports, with chief executive Manuel Carcassonne telling Le Point: “Woody Allen is a great artist, film-maker, writer, and his New York Jewish humour can still be read in every line of this autobiography, in self-mockery, modesty, and the art of disguising the tragic in comedy. Including at his expense.” > > Carcassonne told the French magazine that he was not sure he would be able to continue with publication plans – after Hachette US cancelled publication, the rights returned to Allen – but he said he would do everything he could to release the book. “We need to recover the rights which have been returned to the author. And above all, let’s be frank, it’s the author alone who will decide.” > **[Woody Allen memoir may still go ahead in France, despite controversy](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/09/woody-allen-memoir-apropos-of-nothing-hachette-us-publisher-editions-stock-france)** > > The film director’s book Apropos of Nothing was dropped by its US publisher after staff walkouts, but the French publisher says ‘Allen is not Roman Polanski’ Note, Editions Stock is a French publisher, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre, which itself is part of the Lagardère Group. > **[Stock (publishing house)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ditions_Stock)** > > Stock is a French publisher, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre, which itself is part of the Lagardère Group. > It was founded in the 18th century by André Cailleau, who was succeeded in 1753 by Nicolas-Bonaventure Duchesne, who published Voltaire and Rousseau. At the beginning of the 19th century, the publisher was called "Au Temple du goût". In the middle of the century it changed hands and was eventually bought up by Pierre-Victor Stock, who ran it from 1877 to 1921 and gave it its current name. > D... ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/27 "2020-03-09T18:09:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Yeah, not a single biography of Hitler has been published since 1945, for very similar reasons. There has not been one autobiography. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/28 "2020-03-09T18:17:07Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There has not been one autobiography. That we know of! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/29 "2020-03-09T18:24:19Z")
Mein Kampf is partly an autobiography by Hitler written in 1925 so it does not cover his whole life. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/30 "2020-03-09T18:32:12Z")
ISTM that once you start explaining why shtupping your girlfriend’s daughter isn’t so bad, you’ve lost. _Annie Hall_ is a truly great film. _Bananas_ and _What’s Up, Tiger Lily?_ are hysterically funny. It’s easier to enjoy the films if I can believe in the neurotic New York Jewish nebbish persona, and not in the creepy old man one. Sorry/not sorry - _Purple Rose of Cairo_ was stupid, _Stardust Memories_ was actively unpleasant to watch, _Crimes and Misdemeanors_ was morally bankrupt and I haven’t seen many of the others since. Go away, Woody - you had a great run but I don’t like you anymore. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/31 "2020-03-10T03:49:42Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Yeah, we really just need a commonly accepted shorthand, like “Argument #27”. Let’s call it The Hatchie Dialogue ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/32 "2020-03-10T04:28:51Z")
I just realised something about Woody Allen’s movie _A Rainy Day in New York_. In the movie, the famous middle-aged film director who is hitting on the attractive teen girl is called Roland Pollard - a name not too far off from Roman Polanski. I have a feeling that something is going on here, not mere coincidence or obliviousness on Allen’s part. Is this Allen’s way of giving the middle finger to the world? ---
**Author:** ![AlTraina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/altraina/32/50_2.png) [@AlTraina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlTraina)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/33 "2020-03-10T09:40:20Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > If I saw someone reading it I would wonder if they too were a pedophile, or just utterly lacking in sensitivity and empathy. I’m probably not the only one who would, so maybe just read it at home. I don’t worry about closed-minded people such as yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/34 "2020-03-10T13:29:48Z")
Right. And if someone is reading OJ’s If I DID IT, they have gotten away with murder. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/35 "2020-03-10T13:44:01Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Right. And if someone is reading OJ’s If I DID IT, they have gotten away with murder. They likely haven’t. But it is odd to purchase that book, supporting the guy making money off of his murders and thumbing his nose at the justice system. It is not a book I would openly read in public, due to the implications that I’m okay with giving money to that man. The same applies to Allen’s book. I’m not going to support the guy who most likely got away with child molestation. And I would think it odd of people who would purchase it and read it publicly. Like it or not, doing such makes a statement about your values. No, the person reading it is likely not a pedophile. But they are okay with giving money to one. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/36 "2020-03-10T14:08:33Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > They likely haven’t. But it is odd to purchase that book, supporting the guy making money off of his murders and thumbing his nose at the justice system. It is not a book I would openly read in public, due to the implications that I’m okay with giving money to that man. Actually, a court awarded the rights of the book to the Goldman family, so by purchasing it you’re supporting the family of one of his victims, not OJ. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/37 "2020-03-10T19:17:56Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There has not been one autobiography. Actually, Mein Kampf went back into print for the first time since WWII in 2017. I’m not sure when, but in answer to an SD query about Hitler’s living relatives, Uncle Cecil made mention of said relatives trying to collect on back royalties for Hitler’s book. Can you imagine that? ---
**Author:** ![AlTraina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/altraina/32/50_2.png) [@AlTraina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlTraina)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/38 "2020-03-10T19:30:59Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > Actually, Mein Kampf went back into print for the first time since WWII in 2017. In Germany, I presume you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/39 "2020-03-11T00:47:37Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > I’m not sure when, but in answer to an SD query about Hitler’s living relatives, Uncle Cecil made mention of said relatives trying to collect on back royalties for Hitler’s book. Can you imagine that? That is, as we surviving _Juden_ say, chutzpah. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028/40 "2020-03-11T04:37:43Z")
I like some but not all of Allen’s movies, and have been generally creeped out by him since the whole Soon-Yi thing blew up. I’m sure he can find another publisher, or even self-publish, if he wants. The controversy over Hachette’s decision will probably only boost sales for whichever publishing house eventually puts his icky tome on bookstore shelves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-allens-autobiography-cancelled-by-publisher/849028.md?page=3)