TheWrap reported exclusively last week that J.J. Abrams was close to a book deal, and now that deal is done: Abrams and writer Doug Dorst will collaborate on a novel to be published next year by Little, Brown and Company.
“Doug and J.J.’s story will explode the bonds of the novel in ways no book has ever done,” said Michael Pietsch, executive vice president and publisher of Little, Brown. “It is a privilege to work with this wildly creative team of writers and thinkers.”
The “Lost” co-creator’s past print projects have included “Star Trek” comics pegged to his relaunch of the movie franchise and a series of books inspired by his TV show, “Alias.”
Dorst is the author of “Alive in Necropolis,” a runner-up for the 2009 PEN/Hemingway, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and one of Amazon.com’s Best Books of 2008. He graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, and, perhaps most impressively, is a three-time “Jeopardy” champion.
“Doug is a genius,” said Abrams. “I could not be more excited to collaborate with him on this completely original project. I feel lucky not just to be working in this medium, but also to be doing so at Little, Brown.”
What we still don’t know: What the book is about. The famously secretive Abrams has declined, through a rep, to say any more.
The novel will be edited by Mulholland Books editor John Schoenfelder. Abrams and Dorst were represented by Jay Mandel of WME.
