Book launch bonanza

It's been a hectic past week, as my book, The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World, launched in the US and Canada. The onsale date itself (July 19) tested the limits of my mental endurance, as I did seventeen interviews over the course of the day, twelve of which were essentially identical (local CBC radio hosts reading off a shared syndication script). Still, I can't complain.

I arrived back in Toronto yesterday after a five-day mini press tour through New York City and Washington D.C. The media reception has been fantastic: I was invited to do two brief TV spots on Fox News, a ten-minute segment for Bloomberg's Inside Track (available here), an interview on PBS Newshour (available here), and an hour-long segment for C-SPAN's Book TV.

There has also been considerable print coverage, highlights as follow:

• Low conduct on the high seas, a review in The Globe & Mail by original Toronto pirate author Daniel Sekulich.
• Can I get a little piracy?, a feature by National Post reporter Jessica Hume.
• Author Talk, a Q&A with CBS' Jeff Glor.
• Do Somali pirates have legit gripe? by Cliff May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies

Boston Globe and AP reviews

Latest review of the book, from The Boston Globe:

Debunking myths of pirates by David M. Shribman.

Katharine Houreld's (Associated Press) review is also out today: Secrets of Somali pirates revealed in new book, written by Canadian who lived among them

John Batchelor Show

I was interviewed last night by guest host Simon Constable on the WABC's The John Batchelor Show. The audio is available here; my interview begins at 18:21.

Latest shameless self-promotion

Another (very short) review of my book appeared on Tuesday in The Observer's e-mail collection Very Short List, which called it "a brisk, revealing real-life adventure story." Full review here.

In other news, I made an appearance yesterday (well, technically today, by local time) on the Australian current affairs program The Wire: link to that interview is available here.

My June 27 interview with Fran Kelly of ABC Radio National Breakfast is also available online.

...as is my June 28 interview on Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon.