Memoirs by the musician and the artist were among the forthcoming books causing excitement at the industry’s international trade event A memoir from Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, a “devastating” critique of austerity from former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and a “warts and all” autobiography from the musician Phil Collins are among the deals setting this week’s Frankfurt book fair on fire. Announcing its deal for Ai’s book at the world’s largest gathering of the publishing industry, The Bodley Head said it would be “an extraordinary cultural history of China over the past one hundred years”. It will be told through both Ai’s own life story, and that of his father, the poet Ai Qing, who was both an early intimate of Mao Zedong, and later sentenced to hard labour in the Gobi desert after being branded a rightist. The book will be published in spring 2017. Continue reading...