'Eat' scribe's ex cancels book deal

NEW YORK, July 23 (UPI) -- Michael Cooper, the ex-husband of "Eat Pray Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert, says he refused a publisher's demands to make his divorce memoir more controversial.

Gilbert's book chronicles how she broke up with Cooper and took the yearlong trip of self-discovery that inspired "Eat."

The New York Post said Hyperion hired Cooper last summer to pen "Displaced," his version of the meltdown of their marriage. The newspaper said the deal to publish it has since been canceled.

Cooper told the Post he completed the manuscript but isn't moving forward with its publication because of Hyperion's "11th-hour demands" to make it racier.

"I set out to write about how, in the wake of a devastating and unexpected divorce, I slowly rebuilt my life by redoubling my already decades-long commitment to humanitarian relief and human rights work. In the end, it seemed to me that Hyperion hoped to push the book in a more controversial direction -- something I was unwilling to do. I am exploring options with other publishers," Cooper said.

A film version of "Eat Pray Love" starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem is set for release Aug. 13.