NEW YORK - Barnes & Noble Inc. has changed its mind about the new O.J. Simpson book.
After saying it would not stock copies of "If I Did It'' in its stores, citing lack of customer demand, the chain said Thursday that it would indeed carry the book.
Since the initial decision on Aug. 21 against stocking the book it has been sold only online by the chain.
Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said: "We've been monitoring the pre-orders and customer requests and have concluded that enough customers have expressed interest in buying the book to warrant stocking it in our stores. We do not intend to promote the book but we will stock it in our stores because our customers are asking for it.''
For days, Simpson's book has been in the top 100 on Barnes & Noble.com and at one point even topped the best-seller list. "If I Did It'' has also entered the top 100 on Amazon.com.
Simpson's ghostwritten, hypothetical story of how he would have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman was originally scheduled to come out last November, but HarperCollins pulled the book in response to near universal protests.
Over the summer, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded rights to the book to Goldman's family to help satisfy a US$38 million wrongful death judgment against Simpson. "If I Did It'' will be published Sept. 13 by Beaufort Books on behalf of the Goldman family, which considers the book Simpson's confession.
Simpson has maintained his innocence in the 1994 killings in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. Acquitted of the murders in 1995 and currently living near Miami, he has disowned the book, saying he had little do with its creation. The ghostwriter, Pablo Fenjves, has disagreed, saying "If I Did It'' is based on extensive discussions with Simpson.
