I wouldn't say there's a good time for news like this to come out, but the first day of the GOP's convention probably isn't optimal for them.
This probably shouldn't come as a big surprise, but Donald Trump did not personally write his famous book The Art of the Deal. In fact, the man who actually wrote the book, Trump's ghostwriter, has come forward to speak out against the Republican presidential nominee.
Ghostwriter Tony Schwartz did not come forward to necessarily oppose Trump's ideology because, according to Schwartz, Trump does subscribe to any particular ideology. Schwartz describes Trump as a man who may be the most self-centered person in the entire world, going so far as to say the book should be renamed to Art of the Sociopath.
From The New Yorker:
[The] prospect of President Trump terrified him. It wasn’t because of Trump’s ideology—Schwartz doubted that he had one. The problem was Trump’s personality, which he considered pathologically impulsive and self-centered. [...]
“I put lipstick on a pig,” [Schwartz] said. “I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.” He went on, “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.”
If he were writing “The Art of the Deal” today, Schwartz said, it would be a very different book with a very different title. Asked what he would call it, he answered, “The Sociopath.”
The New Yorker's lengthy profile of Schwartz' and Trump's business relationship doesn't necessarily tell us anything we didn't already know about the Republican presidential nominee, but it undercuts his faltering image as a man who possess extraordinary business acumen. At this point you'd be hard pressed to name a single Trump venture or business that has been an authentic success. Everything he puts his name on inevitably withers.
In his typical fashion, Trump has responded by referring to The New Yorker as a "failing magazine that no one reads" and has threatened to sue Schwartz who, according to Trump, is only looking for publicity.
Schwartz has reportedly directed all royalties from sales of The Art of the Sociopath to the National Immigration Law Center, Human Rights Watch, the Center for the Victims of Torture, the National Immigration Forum, and the Tahirih Justice Center.