CYNTHIA ROSE: REAL TIME HOT TIPS

SOCCER STAR IN PUBLISHING KNOCKOUT

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Everyone knows about bootleg records. But bootleg books? Yes, they do exist outside the porn realm. And right now, the hottest is "by" a French-born, British-playing soccer star: Eric Cantona. Titled La Philosophie de CANTONA, this is a pocket-size gem of an item. Yet its elegant, witty content demolished a whole publishing company.

First let it be said that Monsieur Cantona does indeed paint and write as well as play ball. And La Philosophie does put his arts in context:

"Albert Camus was the first of the footballing philosophers. A French-Algerian goalkeeper, he pondered long and hard between the sticks and later produced such existential standards as The Plague and The Rebel. After the death of Camus in 1960, the twin disciplines of football and philosophy drifted apart. The likes of Law, Best and Charlton set the stadium ablaze, but made precious few assaults on the greater complexities."

But the bulk of it quotes the Man Himself:

"I am a son of rich people! But in our house riches have never meant money luxury or spending. Frankly, I wish that all those children who ask for my autograph could have, at the start of their lives, the same values which were passed on to me by my family in the hills of Marseilles." (Facing page, of course, in French).

So what happened? Partly there was The Incident, in which Cantona attacked a "fan" who cast aspersions on his nation and his mother. (A "fan", it soon transpired, with a history of serious racial attacks). But, even though it appeared one week after this, La Philosophie had been in the works for months.

Just as it was selling like hotcakes, two things happened. Cantona's team, Manchester United, and the publishers Headline (source of the footballer's autobiography) both decided to sue La Philosophie's publisher. (This was the indie Ringpull Press -- who broughtNet folk one of their fave novels, Vurt.

Man United wanted a cut of the action; Headline didn't like repeats of quotes they claimed to own. So Ringpull excised everything belonging to Headline, put Man United's logo on the cover and put the price up one pound. (This money, bien sur, was for Man United).

THEN Cantona's agent called with another problem: he didn't like his client's pic (in a beret and beard). Result: the books were off the shelf within weeks. Ringpull collapsed and was purchased by Fourth Estate (a small press owned, at the end of the line, by The Guardian newspaper). That is the bad news. But, as in la philosophie, there is always a flipside. This time it's Ringpull's e-mail, through which they ask would-be authors with any new ideas to approach them.

"We know people are out there writing great stuff," say Ringpull. "They're writing film scripts, writing on the Internet. Anyone with any ideas should feel free to mail us." Do it, from 21 June, via: up@ringpull.demon.co.uk -- and remember what Cantona would say:

"Whatever happens, there are always things you could have done better. You score two goals and you usually feel you could have done better.You score two goals and you usually feel you could have scored a third. That's perfectionism. That's what makes you progress in life."

No-one could put it better -- no matter who owns the words.

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Vurt fans should check out Jeff Noon's sequel, Pollen, also from Ringpull.

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