Bhutto Book On Shelves by Feb 2008

WHILE THE GETTIN'S GOOD Bhutto(Photo: Getty Images)

After Bhutto, the deluge. First Parade announced it was moving up a cover story on the assassinated Pakistani leader. Now publishing giant HarperCollins has announced they are fast-tracking a Bhutto-penned memoir/opinion tome tentatively titled Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West, which, the New York Post reports, will be on shelves by February 2008. Looks like it'll be a champagne-free New Year's toast for you lowly HC editors!

The book deal was inked in October, shortly after she returned from exile, for an estimated first-time author fee of $75,000, far below the standard rate for a world leader. The manuscript was co-written by Mark Seigel, Bhutto's longtime friend and U.S. adviser, who is now known to have delivered an e-mail message from Bhutto to Wolf Blitzer in which she points to Pakistan's President Musharraf as responsible, ultimately, for her death.

In October, HarperCollins Executive Editor Tim Duggan told the New York Post: "Pakistan is an increasingly volatile place, and Bhutto's book is an eye-opening look at the mistakes we've made in the region and what we can do to correct them—as well as what the consequences will be if we don't."