Blogs and Stories
Bush Memoir Will Be a Hit
Longtime Washington book agent Ronald Goldfarb says the notion Bush won’t get a book deal is nuts. Who wouldn’t want the story of the Titanic from the skipper?
The election of an historically interesting and literate candidate is only days old, and already there is speculation about the soon retiring president's potential memoir. W's memoir? The two words clash against each other. Who'd buy it?
One Knopf editor suggests he should wait, take his time. Perhaps after some years there will be a resurgence of interest in his book. Harry Truman looked better with the passage of time which dilutes the strong feelings of the present. Today people remember more about Bill Clinton's charms than his impeachment for demeaning, un-presidential behavior. A conservative publisher suggests, “the longer he waits, the better." The hindsight of history will make even W's memoir less resistible.
Pondering W's literary future, late night comics’ jokes come to mind. When the now revered Ronald Reagan's house was on fire, one wise guy remarked: “they saved the books but the crayons melted.” How could one as literary challenged as George W. Bush write a whole book? Well, one publisher paid a small fortune for Paris Hilton's "book"—little more than an underwear ad collection. And Dennis Rodman's college professor must have winced reading about Dennis' best seller. With books, it is the buzz and name notoriety that publishers latch onto. "What's his platform?” they frequently ask, not “What’s the quality of what he has to say?”, when approached by literary agents and lawyers.
If Tina Fey can get a huge advance for her book generated by her magical impersonation of Sarah Palin as rumored, certainly the fodder for late night comics will get his day in Publisher's Weekly.
W has that—even 20 to 30 percent of the polling or political public is a big number. He will have a presidential library to sell his book, a web site, fan club (presently in hiding), and a large family. W won't leave it to Oliver Stone or Michael Moore or scholars from "the other America of elite, effete, media-folk to tell his story,” no sireeee. Remember, it is a myth that the media is liberal. Talk radio and cable TV sell books. O'Reilly and Hannity on TV and Rush and Ollie on radio, and their ilk will plug W's book to best sellerdom, as part of the Republican and conservative attempt to come back.
Even if his administration is deemed by a majority of the American—make that world's—public to be a disaster, no one really expects "truth" in a memoir, just a voyeuristic peek, or in this case a slant on history by a participant. The Clintons received millions for their memoirs, but do you think the public got the real inside true story of the Monica Lewinsky story? Really.
I'm no George W. Bush fan; quite the contrary. I worked for president-elect Obama’s campaign, and despise what the Bush administration did in its eight years. Every day of it. But there have only been 43 other presidents in our country's history, and fewer than 43 memoirs of those 43. Of the 43, few were reelected and served 2 four year terms. Of course, W will find a competent collaborator to spin his clumsy language into a book. Of course, W's fans and some curious onlookers in the US and abroad, and of course all libraries and historians, will buy it and read it. He won't get the huge advance that others received (doesn't need it). I hate to guess advances, but if you must, I'd predict seven figures. If Tina Fey can get a huge advance for her book generated by her magical impersonation of Sarah Palin as rumored, certainly the fodder for late night comics will get his day in Publisher's Weekly. And it might be interesting to get the inside view of the Titanic from the skipper.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Why America Must Learn to Bow
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
The Mob Did It (We Think)
Ronald Goldfarb is a veteran Washington, D.C., attorney, author and literary agent who worked in the Department of Justice as a special assistant to Robert F. Kennedy in the organized crime and racketeering section, and as a speechwriter for Kennedy’s Senate campaign in New York. He has written 11 books and 300 articles in addition to numerous op-eds and reviews (see www.RonaldGoldfarb.com).
Laying Down the Law
Ronald Goldfarb is a veteran Washington, D.C., attorney, author and literary agent who worked in the Department of Justice as a special assistant to Robert F. Kennedy in the organized crime and racketeering section, and as a speechwriter for Kennedy’s Senate campaign in New York. He has written 11 books and 300 articles in addition to numerous op-eds and reviews (see www.RonaldGoldfarb.com).
I'm thinking another possibility for W's memoir might be more in the form of extended, indepth interviews, perhaps with one or more gravitas-oozing journo Faces (you know, Shaun, Whoopi or Jon...). Just can't quite get my head round even the idea of a traditional Bush memoir, even if it was completely ghosted. I would baulk at the contrivance factor, as would one or two others. But hey, what's a little rising bile in exchange for an insider account of these halcyon days?
The question is not whether someone is willing to ghost write a book about Bush, the question is: Will he be able to read it?
This is George. George is bad. Bad George bad...
I'd actually like to read his memoirs, but I'd rather he do a them in about 10 years, when he has the advantage of a little perspective.
Wait, sorry, I forgot with whom we're having the pleasure. He may as well do it now.
Personally, I think W's memoirs would be fascinating and definitely a bestseller. However, I believe many Republican and Conservative politicians/pundits/etc. are suggesting President Bush wait because the last thing the minority party would want want during the 2010 or 2012 election cycle is publication of the memoirs of least popular president in our nations history . . . who also happens to be a member of their party.
How hard could the Rat in the Cowboy Hat be to write?
Unless he explains some of the decisions he made throughout his presidency, I am not even borrowing it from a library...
How hard could "the Rat in the Cowboy Hat" be to write
About your comment that Bush knows more about what went on than Bob Woodward does - Well, yeah, of course. However, how much of what Bush knows is he willing to share? If he wants to gloss over everything, then we are probably getting more real information from reading Bob Woodward.
WHY?
I am too busy laughing at this picture of Bush to think about a memoir. This is exactly the way he envisions himself--tough guy rancher. Do you think he would share his memories of visiting Vincente Fox at a real ranch where he showed a definite fear of horses that included even being near them? Fox writes about it and was amused to say the least.
Let's face it, the memoir will try to back up the picture. Bring it on. I hope it's as funny.
Only if the title is, "Hey, I'm sorry for messin things up, while I was the decider." Setting historication straight, so to speak.
Some books are meant to be read in 2 or 3 minute bits while other somewhat involuntary functions are being performed. So long as it doesn't fall it, this book might be worth having--now that the Far Side guy is retired.
Last time I checked, this country didn't have dictatorship. Blame Bush as much as you want, but:
a) few presidents have had to deal with all of the stuff that he has had in the last 8 years.
b) the Democrats have had control of the House for the last 2 years of Bush's presidency, aka the worst 2 years of Bush's presidency.
c) if they really disagreed, the House can also veto his decision.
and d) the man has advisors, war generals, and the country all pressuring him into doing what they consider best.
It sure is easy to blame one man, but let's face it, America. It took a whole lot more than just him to do the amount of damage we have.
When everything that the George W. Bush administration really did becomes public, he will no longer be welcome in this country. Still if he writes his book down in Uruguay, everybody will want to read about his spiteful shipwreck of a Presidency.
hey folks - i've written the seminal bush memoir.
bushmemoir.blogsdpot
published by progressive press.
-ted cohen
portland, maine
A Bushy memoir would be nothing if not a masterpiece of deception, self-aggrandizement, obfuscation, and dissembling narrative. Instead of bookstores putting it in the autobiographical section, it would have to be properly classified as pure fiction since The Shrub is not a person who is cursed with the burden of self-awareness especially when assessing himself. He is cursed, however, with unbridled arrogance and hubris which would inevitably leech into his little tome.
His whole administration ranks up there with Nixon's for being a diabolical farce of democracy which, were the story told factually, would make for some really scary reading. At least with a ghost writer we wouldn't have to further suffer Bush's tortured syntax so maybe there's one bright spot after all.
Inauguration Day Special!
Check it out: bushmemoir.blogspot.com
Come on people, where is your sense of humah!
That Bush can get a bloated advance on an idiot book from an idiot industry should surprise no one. At a time when publishers lie through their teeth about how poor they are (and are no longer reading manuscripts), they arrogant throw money to the wind for a piece of drivel that isn't worth five cents. This book and this so-called "business" (publishing is not a business, it's a silver spoon in a overfed mouth) deserve a serious, Internet-organized, focused like a laser beam boycott. Bush already gets the message he's unpopular. It's the publishing industry that needs to be sent the unequivocal message that the consumer as reader is NOT as stupid as the editors, the agents, and the other parasites who work in publishing think they are. -- Tim Barrus, Amsterdam
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.