OFF THE SHELF

Norton Pulls Bestselling Roth Biography in the Wake of Rape Allegations Against Author

Blake Bailey’s former students have accused him of grooming them, and two women accused him of rape.

W.W. Norton has pulled a bestselling biography of Philip Roth from the shelves after multiple women accused its author, acclaimed writer Blake Bailey, of rape. Norton also said it would cut ties with the author entirely in a statement: “Norton is permanently putting out of print our editions of Philip Roth: The Biography and The Splendid Things We Planned, Blake Bailey’s 2014 memoir.” The book was published earlier this month in a 50,000-copy run. The publisher said it would also donate the amount Bailey received as an advance for the biography to organizations dedicated to victims of sexual assault. His agency has dropped him as well. Bailey taught English to eighth graders in New Orleans in the 1990s, and multiple students said he exhibited inappropriate behavior then. One of them, as well as an executive in the publishing industry, alleged that Bailey raped them as adults. Bailey has called the accusations against him “categorically false and libelous” and his lawyer said Bailey disagrees with his publisher’s decision.