With time on his hands, James Levine writing a book

Lest anyone thinks James Levine has nothing to do now that he has resigned as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, that's not so. The maestro, who was forced to put down his baton because of chronic health problems, is writing a memoir. To be published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc., the still-untitled book will chronicle Levine's half-century in the music business. (He is still music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera.) The 67-year-old conductor is collaborating on the book with Harvey Sachs, a music writer whose resume includes a biography of Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini and an edited collection of Toscanini's letters. No word on what Levine is being paid for the book. He was repped by New York-based literary agent Denise Shannon, who did not return a call today.