Melville House Books

An American journalist who was kidnapped by Shiite insurgents in Iraq last summer has signed a book contract with Simon & Schuster. According to an Associated Press wire story, Micah Garen was kidnapped along with his Iraqi translator, Amir Doushi, from Nairiyah while taking pictures for a documentary on the looting of archeological sites. He was later released thanks to the intervention of Muqtada al-Sadr. S&S executive editor Geoff Kloske said in a statement that Garen’s story “shows determination and love overcoming war and terror, despite great cultural and physical distance.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.