Clark’s Book on Life, Simpson Case Piques Interest

Although her publisher insists that no copies of Marcia Clark’s “Without a Doubt” will be available until Friday, interest in the O.J. Simpson prosecutor’s book is already heating up, with tidbits from the memoir leaking out on NBC’s “Today” show and in a Time magazine book review published Monday.

Excerpts from Clark’s nearly 500-page book focus on her rape at the age of 17, the personal trauma she experienced during the Simpson trial and her withering opinions of key players, ranging from Judge Lance A. Ito (a “dunderhead”) to defense attorney Robert L. Shapiro (a “lightweight”) to Clark’s rather blunt view of herself (a “survivor”).

The rush to break the Friday news embargo shows that “Americans are very, very interested in this story and this woman,” says Viking publicity director Patti Kelly. “We think that interest will only grow when the regularly scheduled publicity begins later this week.”

If all had gone according to plan, America would have gotten its first glimpse of Clark on Friday in a special “20/20” broadcast on ABC-TV and hosted by Barbara Walters. Television shows pay megabucks for those first broadcast rights, and the leaks from Clark’s book are merely the latest examples of the perils involved in signing authors for such appearances.

In recent years, leaks have ruined similar TV exclusives on books by Gen. Colin Powell, Hillary Rodham Clinton, former White House aide Dick Morris and others.

According to Kelly, 18 copies of “Without a Doubt” were mistakenly shipped to booksellers over the weekend, and two of them rapidly found their way to NBC and Time. It was “a mistake, and we’ve contained the leak, we’ve taken care of the problem until Friday,” she said.

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In its review, Time quotes Clark’s views:

* On the nature of her relationship with fellow prosecutor Christopher A. Darden: “The question is irrelevant. Fact of the matter is, Chris Darden and I were closer than lovers.”

* On how Simpson’s acquittal affected her personal life and professional future: “My old life was gone,” Clark wrote, noting that she fell into a “malaise” after losing a case she strongly believed was winnable. Although she was reluctant to join the parade of Simpson authors, the former prosecutor says her $4.2-million advance will at least allow her to be a “soccer mom.”

* And as for the explosive revelations that surfaced during the trial about her first husband, Gabriel Horowitz, a professional gambler, Clark says: “I had surmounted my personal difficulties through acts that took considerable initiative and will. In the summer of 1994, I was not Marcia Kleks, the gambler’s girlfriend. I was a lawyer--an intelligent and accomplished one at that. I was a damned good mother. And everything admirable that I’d accomplished seemed threatened by this disturbing and unsolicited celebrity.”

That celebrity still commands intense media curiosity, as Monday’s press flare-up shows. But it remains to be seen whether Clark can convert this attention into solid profits for her publisher. Initially, Viking pledged to flood the market with nearly 1 million copies of “Without a Doubt.” The publisher recently cut that first printing in half, and book industry experts question whether the author can earn back in sales what Viking has advanced her.

“We’re very confident,” is all Kelly would say. “Just wait until the book comes out.”