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Ex-Wife's Novel Details Taylor's Marital Breakup

Publisher of ex-wife's A Stopover in Venice downplays a big selling point

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 21, 2008 6:53 PM CDT

(Newser) – Book-jacket fodder that could alone put a novel on the bestseller list is curiously absent from Kathryn Walker’s debut, A Stopover in Venice, Celia McGee notes in the New York Times—though it’s a fictional account of her unhappy marriage to James Taylor. The musician comes in for a “not very flattering” portrait, McGee writes, as does first ex-wife Carly Simon.

In addition to Taylor, actor Jason Robards and National Lampoon founder Douglas Kenney (an ex-boyfriend of Walker’s) directly inspire characters in the novel—parallels that have been lost on pre-publication reviewers. Walker’s agent says the low-profile marketing strategy was deliberate, so that she can “be seen as a serious writer, not as the author of an autobiographical novel about her famous ex-husband.”

James Taylor sings the national anthem before Game 2 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies Oct. 25, 2007, at Fenway Park in Boston.
James Taylor sings the national anthem before Game 2 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies Oct. 25, 2007, at Fenway Park in Boston.   (AP Photo)
Recording artist James Taylor sings the national anthem before Game 1 of the NBA basketball finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics Thursday, June 5, 2008, in Boston.
Recording artist James Taylor sings the national anthem before Game 1 of the NBA basketball finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics Thursday, June 5, 2008, in Boston.   (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Musician James Taylor rehearsing, at the Troubadour Tavern, for an upcoming performance Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007, in West Hollywood, Calif.
Musician James Taylor rehearsing, at the Troubadour Tavern, for an upcoming performance Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007, in West Hollywood, Calif.   (AP Photo)
Musician James Taylor poses for a photo Nov. 13, 2007, at the NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif.
Musician James Taylor poses for a photo Nov. 13, 2007, at the NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif.   (AP Photo)
Musician James Taylor poses for a photo Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2007, at the NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif. James Taylor's new CD/DVD set One Man Band is a musical self-portrait that takes him back to the start of his career in the late 1960s when he could travel light with...
Musician James Taylor poses for a photo Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2007, at the NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif. James Taylor's new CD/DVD set "One Man Band" is a musical self-portrait that takes him back to the...   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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