Debunked atom bomb book selling on Amazon

NEW YORK -- The debunking of a book about the atomic bombing of Japan seems to have made it more popular.

As of Tuesday morning, Charles Pellegrino's "Last Train from Hiroshima" ranked No. 78 on Amazon.com. It was in the 200s on Monday when Henry Holt and Company, responding to questions raised by The Associated Press, halted publication.

While the book continues to sell on Amazon, Barnes and Noble Inc. said Tuesday it was pulling all its copies. Holt is no longer printing or shipping "Last Train," but said it was leaving the decision to retailers whether to sell existing books.

Film rights for the book, released in January, have been acquired by "Avatar" director James Cameron.

According to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks around 75 percent of industry sales, Pellegrino's book has sold 7,000 copies, including 1,000 in the week leading up to Monday's announcement. Pellegrino acknowledged a week and a half ago that he had been misled by a source who claimed to have flown on a plane accompanying the Enola Gay, from which an atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. He apologized and promised to correct the text.

But the AP raised additional questions, including one about the existence of a Father Mattias (the first name is not given), who supposedly lived in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing and committed suicide, and John MacQuitty, identified as a Jesuit scholar who presided over Mattias' funeral. Holt said Monday that Pellegrino did not offer a satisfactory answer.

Pellegrino, in an e-mail sent to the AP on Monday night, said he had used pseudonyms to protect the identity of the men.

The author also responded to questions about his education. Pellegrino's Web site, www.charlespellegrino.com, lists him as having a Ph.D. from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The school says it has no such record. Pellegrino said that his degree was revoked over a dispute on evolutionary theory.

Pellegrino's Web site also says he was a "founding member" of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, an organization started soon after the 1986 shuttle tragedy. Center spokesman Rob Cork said Tuesday that Pellegrino has never served on the board of directors and that there is no record of his giving money.

"Now, we have been in existence for nearly 24 years, and we do have nearly 50 Challenger Learning Center locations around the world, and he may have made a donation at some point," Cork said.