Books

NEW YORK – With British publication in doubt for Sherry Jones' The Jewel of Medina, the U.S. publisher of her novel about the prophet Muhammad has moved the release date from Oct. 15 to Monday.

"By speeding up the publication, we wanted to reduce or eliminate the chance of violence," Eric Kampmann, president of Beaufort Books, said, noting that three men were arrested in London last weekend for a fire-bomb attack on the offices of publisher Gibson Square.

"What had occurred in London, we didn't want to have occur here. We wanted people to have a chance to read the book. Once they read the book, we thought the violence part of this story would disappear and people would be focusing on the story, and the book and Sherry." The novel was slated for U.S. release in August, but Random House Inc. balked.

The Associated Press

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