OMAR KHAYAM: A LIFE

Fiction, in the sense that A GORGEOUS HUSSY is fiction, in the sense that the R. Barrington books are fiction; and by the same definition, biography. In other words, it is highly romanticized and highly fictionized biographical material, and should be sold wherever and however you, individually, find it easiest to sell.... And, before all, it is grand reading, this story of the Persian poet, known to the modern world through the Rubaiyat -- to his own times as a famous astronomer, promulgator of a new calendar, of the heresy that the earth moved round the sun, of new methods of calculation, favorite of the sultan Malikshah, hated by those who wished to carry favor in his place. The period is the eleventh century -- the setting, Nisapur in Persia, with all its pageantry and glamorous romance. Historical characters, veiled in the mists of antiquity, play their part. But the story stands on its own feet, as good adventure, romance at its height, and the revelation of a period and a place of which most of us have no knowledge. Should be easy selling, easy selling, and should make a plus sale for your favorite edition of the Rubaiyat.