On Monday, Crikey reported on the “breathtakingly careless errors” made by Christopher Pearson in his Weekend Australian column last weekend, “ABC’s vehicle of invective“.

In attempting to make the case that ABC Books was a hotbed of politically-motivated publishing, Pearson claimed all these books were commissioned by the ABC:  

Margo Kingston’s Not Happy, John!, Anne Summers’s The End of Equality, Barry Jones’s Coming to the Party, Helen Caldicott’s Nuclear Power is Not the Answer, David Marr and Marian Wilkinson’s Dark Victory, Mungo MacCallum’s How to Be a Megalomaniac: Advice to a Young Politician, Father Frank Brennan’s Tampering with Asylum, former priest Paul Collins’s Between the Rock and a Hard Place, and Bishop John Shelby Spong’s New Christianity for a New World.

The problem was that only one of that list – Paul Collins’s Between the Rock and a Hard Place – was published by ABC Books.

Pearson told Crikey that he will “probably mention” the mistake in his column in tomorrow’s Oz.  But he believes the article’s contention holds true: “I asked: does ABC Books get free rent, does it get free legal advice, does it in other ways compete at an unfair advantage over other publishers? The answer to those questions is yes.”

But it was the Howard-hating viewpoints that seemed to bother Pearson more than anything else. As he wrote: “I have no objection to ABC Books in itself … if ABC Books confined itself to program guides, the Boyer lectures and book and magazine spin-offs of its radio and television programs, it’s hard to see how anyone could reasonably object.”

Below is a list of books published by ABC Books this year (some of them under licence). Of the hundred or so books, one is potentially contentious, Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War by Anthony Shadid (originally published in the US), while the Griffith Review can be political in nature.

The rest appear mostly politically innocuous, though I Want To Be A Fairy by Jen Watts is clearly a book promoting a gay lifestyle and The Wiggles’ Here Comes the Big Red Car is possibly pro-communist.

Matthew Hayden Cookbook 2, Matthew Hayden

True Green: 100 everyday ways you can contribute to a healthier planet, Kim McKay & Jenny Bonnin

Enough Rope 4, Andrew Denton

1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die

Foyle’s War, Rod Green

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5 of the Best: delicious, Valli Little

I Want To Be A Fairy, Jen Watts

Kite Flying Fun, Jen Watts

Bananas in Pajamas: All Mixed Up

Snott Henderson and the Orsome Towers Gang Book 2: Pet Poo Panic, DG Harris

Puppy’s Christmas Star, Odette Ross

The Apple Tree and Other Stories, Lynley Dodd

How to do a Belly Flop, Dave & Joe Borgenicht

Starwatch Starwheel, David Ellyard

Bathers Pavilion Menus and Recipes, Serge Danserau

Angelina’s Christmas, Katherine Holabird

Angelina’s Treasury Volume 4,  Katherine Holabird

Living with Arthritis,  David Hunter

Throw Out Your Scales: 21 ways to ditch your diet and lose weight forever, Andrew Cate

Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle, Michael Kerrigan

New Cosmos, Dana Berry

And Then The Darkness, Sue Williams

So You Wanna Be a Rock Star?, Les Gock

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Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War, Anthony Shadid

Truth About Lies, Andy Shea & Steve van Aperen

My New Baby, Jeannette Rowe

My Pet, Jeannette Rowe

Scribbly Gum Nature Diary, Abbie Thomas

Farmer Fred’s Cow, Margaret Wild & David Waller

Mermaid Tree, Robert Tiley

The Real Fight : A Memoir of a life interrupted, Kim Dalton

As It Were, Jonathan Biggins

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Dr Peter Boxall; foreword by Jennifer Byrne

Word of the Day 2: Wordwatching, Kel Richards

Bird, Annette Lodge

Here Comes the Big Red Car, The Wiggles

Fairy Realm: The Peskie Spell Series 2, Book 3, Emily Rodda

Change Your Thinking 2nd Ed, Sarah Edelman

Head Over Heels, Sam & Jenny Bailey

The Bad Mother’s Revenge, Sonia Neal

Flora’s Gardening Cards

Flora’s Trees and Shrubs

Flower School, Paula Pryke

The Story of Christianity, Peter Partner

Homecooked: Favourite recipes from Australian kitchens

Honey and the Fires, Roger Pulvers

GirlForce: You, Nikki Goldstein

Jack Brown and the Labyrinth of Bats, Greg Pyers

The Grandma Book, Todd Parr

The Mummy Book Todd Parr

Filthy Rat: A first-hand account of courage in the face of police corruption, Simon Illingworth

Feelgood Food, Gul McCartey & Mim Beam

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Little Book of Big Ideas: Philosophy, Jeremy Stangroom

Little Book of Big Ideas: Science, Peter Moore

Treasures of the World Cup, Keir Radnedge

Where Fate Beckons: The Life of La Perouse, John Dunmore

World Cup Fact File, Keir Radnedge

Lost for Words, Hugh Lunn

Travellers’ Tales 2: More Stories from the ABC’s Foreign Correspondents, Trevor Bormann (ed)

Layla, Queen of Hearts, Glenda Millard

Whose Family?, Jeannette Rowe

Dorothy the Dinosaur Goes Camping, The Wiggles

Dorothy the Dinosaur Let’s Party, The Wiggles

Little Crooked House, Margaret Wild

Puppy and the Tall, Tall Tower, Odette Ross

Schnitzel Von Krumm’s Basketwork, Lynley Dodd

Slinky Malinki Catflaps, Lynley Dodd

Space Dogs, Justin Ball & Evan Croker

We Can Be Heroes, Chris Lilley

Inventing Millions, Paul Torok & Simon Holper

You Didn’t Get It From Me: A reporter’s account of political life in New South Wales between 1988-2001, Stephen Chase

UTS Writers’ Anthology

Australian Place Names, Brian Kennedy

One Fantastic Goal, Trevor Thompson

Mrs Wiggin’s Wartymelons, Glenda Millard

Quincy & Oscar, Kerry Millard

Night Vision, Rory Barnes

More Mere Mortals, Jim Leavesley

Great Australian Aviation Stories, Jim Haynes

Countdown, Dave Warner

Better Digital Photography:Landscape, Seas and Skies, Michael Busselle

Better Digital Photography: Photo Art and Special Effects, Michael Busselle

How to be a Dog Psychic, Danika Nadzan

Struck by Lightning, Jeffrey Rosenthal

Oceans of Love: Narelle: An Australian Nurse in World War I, Melanie Oppenheimer

Play School: Big Ted and Friends

Splish, Splash the Big Red Boat, The Wiggles

The Wiggly Birthday Fun Book, The Wiggles

Wake Up, Jeff!, The Wiggles

Snott Henderson and the Orsome Towers Gang Book I, DG Harris

Whose Teeth? Tail? House?, Jeannette Rowe

Fairy Realm: The Rainbow Wand Series 2, Book 4, Emily Rodda

ABC All Media Law Handbook, ABC Legal Services

An Almost Perfect Murder, John Suter-Linton

Don’t Do It Yourself:The Best and Worst of the Weekend Woodies, Peter Macia and Les Miller

Garden Guru II, Phil Dudman

Great Australian Fly Fishing Stories, Les Hawkins

Bridge Player’s Bible, Julian Potage

Forever Dad, Sean Keogh

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The Grandpa Book, Todd Parr

ABC Nursery Rhyme Board Book

ABC of Rugby League, Malcolm Andrews

Look at Me: Behind the scenes of Australian TV with the women who made it, Christine Hogan

In the Name of Decent Citizens: The Trials of Frank de Groot, Brian Wright

Mark Schwarzer’s World Cup Destiny, Mark Schwarzer

These Few Lines – A Convict Romance The Lost Lives of Myra and William Sykes, Graham Seal

Australia’s Open Garden Scheme

Darby, Liam Campbell

How Did it Begin? Customs, Superstitions and Their Romantic Origins, Li Brasch

Small Fry, Susie Cameron & Katrina Crook

Muffin Top Andrew Daddo

The Dolls: Kiki’s Caravan, Nathalie Jane Prior & Cheryl Orsini

The Strictest School in the World, Howard Whitehouse

How I Taught Michael Slater to Play Cricket, Warren Smith and Terry Smith

So Many Selves, Gabrielle Carey

Celebrity Homecooked, Dylan Brooks & Chloe Waterlow

Australia V England: 600 Memorable Moments, Marc Dawson

Pilo Family Circus, William Elliot

Grand Prix: 100 Years, Bruce Jones

Historic: 1000 Years of our Lives and Times, Jonathan King

Aunty’s Jubilee, Tim Bowden

Back From The Brink, Peter Andrews

Speedcleaning: A spotless house in just 15 minutes a day, Shannon Lush & Jen Fleming

Meet the Fairies, Jen Watts

Play School: Jemima Plays Dress-Ups

Racing to the Rainbow, The Wiggles

GirlForce: Shine, Nikki Goldstein

The Perry Brightfield Chronicles: The King’s Fool, Amanda Holohan

The Secret Army, Sophie Masson & Tony Davis

Jack Brown and the Trail of the Python, Greg Pyers

Slinky Malinki’s Christmas Crackers, Lynley Dodd

Storlax, Robert Jackson & Bubbi Morthens