Publisher cancels reissue of Lynne Cheney's lesbian-inclusive novel

A publisher has canceled plans to reissue a racy novel by Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, after she said the book did not represent "her best work." New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), was going to reprint Sisters, a historical romance published in 1981 that includes brothels, attempted rapes, and a lesbian love affair. "We felt interest was growing because it was an election year, and we decided it could be a timely book," said Liz Perl, executive director of publicity at New American Library. But according to Cheney attorney Robert Barnett, the high-profile author did not even know about the reissue plans prior to receiving calls about it recently from the media. Barnett then contacted the publisher, which agreed to pull the novel. "I told them that she did not think the book was her best work," said Barnett, who represents numerous political leaders, including former president Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. "If there is a serious demand for this 25-year-old book, I am confident that America's used bookstores will be able to satisfy it," Barnett said. Perl and Barnett both said that no legal action was threatened. Although New American Library had the rights to reissue the novel, Perl said, there was no desire "to put out a book that the author was not happy with." Sisters has long been out of print and is not mentioned in Cheney's biography on the White House Web site. In 2001 she told a New York Times reporter that she couldn't even remember the plot. (AP)