Simpson Tells His Side Of Story In Book Soon To Be Published

A book by O.J. Simpson, discussing spousal abuse, his slain ex-wife and his assertion of innocence in her slaying, will be published next month by Little, Brown & Co.

Titled “I Want to Tell You” and written in collaboration with Lawrence Schiller, the book was described Saturday as an effort by Simpson to respond to the more than 300,000 pieces of mail he has received since his arrest last June on charges that he murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman outside her home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles.

“One of the things O.J. said to me in my first meeting with him about the book was, ‘This is not my biography; this is my response to the public’s response to me, to my pain, to my suffering,”’ Schiller said.

A former neighbor of Simpson and a producer, director and journalist, Schiller, 52, collaborated with Norman Mailer on his Pulitzer Prizewinning “Executioner’s Song” and Mailer’s forthcoming “Oswald’s Tale: An American Mystery.”

None of the principals in the arrangements for the publication of Simpson’s book would discuss how much was paid for it.

“That is something we cannot divulge,” said Robert Kardashian, one of Simpson’s lawyers and a longtime business associate who brought Simpson and Schiller together. “It is confidential between the publisher and ourselves. I can elaborate a little bit to say the funds he is receiving are all going to his defense fund.”

Little, Brown said it was planning an initial press run of 500,000 copies.

Schiller said a so-called Son of Sam Law that took effect this month in California to prevent criminals from profiting from their acts would not apply to Simpson in the event he is found guilty at his impending trial in Los Angeles.

Even if Simpson is convicted, Schiller said, it was his understanding that it would not apply to contracts signed in 1994. “Even the new law provides that anyone earning money, innocent or guilty, has the right to use the money first for their defense.”

Charles E. Heyward, the president of Little, Brown, said he had no moral qualms about publishing the book.

“As publishers, I think we have a responsibility to publish a broad spectrum of opinions and points of view,” Heyward said.

“We recognized that Mr. Simpson had a very specific point of view and recognized his right to an opinion and thought that the manner in which it was going to be developed and presented would be a project with a lot of integrity.”

Simpson’s book represents a sharp departure for Little, Brown, which has a reputation as one of the country’s more literary publishing houses. Its authors have included Louisa May Alcott, Bruce Catton, C.S. Forester, John P. Marquand, Evelyn Waugh and Herman Wouk.