A Single Man Hot Off the Press

The buzz surrounding A Single Man, the new film from first-time director Tom Ford, has prompted the University of Minnesota Press to print 27,000 paperback copies of the classic gay novel by Christopher Isherwood.

The university press reissued the 1964 novel in 2001 and has kept it in print since then.

Actor Colin Firth, who plays gay character George Falconer, graces the cover of the new paperback edition alone, a decision made by film director Tom Ford, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

"The Press originally sought to use a photo of Firth and Julianne Moore, who plays George's BFF in the movie, but Ford nixed that idea and approved the solo shot of Firth," the Star-Tribune reported. "Some have criticized film distributor Weinstein Co. for playing down the movie's gay angle in ads that show Firth and Moore together."

Copies of the novel are available in bookstores nationwide. If the film continues to do well, the press is poised to print many more copies, a publicist told the Star-Tribune.