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Obama's Book List Gaffe
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The White House released the president's vacation reading list—including a Tom Friedman book he already read a year ago. What to make of this strange annual presidential ritual?
It has become a tradition almost as established as laying a wreath at Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day: the much-hyped annual release of the president’s vacation reading list. But how seriously can one take it?
Well, here’s a clue. Obama’s spokesman told reporters Monday from Martha’s Vineyard that No. 2 on the president’s list was Tom Friedman’s environmental bestseller Hot, Flat, and Crowded. The only problem? Obama was reading the same book, talking about it, even quoting from it a year ago on the campaign trail.
Hot, Flat, and Crowded. By Thomas L. Friedman. 448 Pages. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. $27.95.
At an event in Flint, Michigan, last September, the Washington Independent noted that the book was “on his nightstand.” The then-presidential candidate tried to refute the arguments of the “Drill, Baby, Drill” crowd by touting Friedman’s environmental bestseller. “He calls it E.T., energy technology,” Obama said of Friedman.
For Obama, Friedman’s book has apparently become a renewable resource.
The New York Times columnist told The Daily Beast that he wouldn’t be surprised if Obama did some skimming the first time around.
“Given the pressure of a campaign, I doubt that the President got to read anything cover to cover,” he said in an e-mail. “And for most of his presidency, the Great Recession has really swamped debate and discussion about climate and energy. So, I was very pleased to hear that he is diving into it again. I suspect that if the economy continues to stabilize, and if some kind of health insurance package is put together, the President will be turning back to his energy/environment agenda with gusto in the coming year.”
As reader-in-chief, Obama has thrilled the intellectual classes with his frequent book talk from the days of his campaign onward. Recently, The Daily Beast catalogued the complete collection of those president-approved reads, which have ranged from literary fiction like Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland to histories of those who occupied the White House before him (a favored presidential reading topic).
Netherland. By Joseph O'Neill. 272 Pages. Pantheon. $23.95.
We like our presidents to be readers—something which even anti-intellectual George W. Bush seemed to realize. In the final days of the Bush White House, Karl Rove felt the need to underscore that point with a column in The Wall Street Journal, headlined “Bush Is a Book Lover.” Bush’s Brain and Bush even had a little competition going: “We kept track not just of books read, but also the number of pages and later the combined size of each book's pages—its ‘Total Lateral Area.’"
Even eight years after he left the White House, Bill Clinton still seems concerned that others know what he’s reading (and that he’s reading). In the middle of a summer that saw him jetting off to North Korea and Haiti on major-league diplomatic errands, Clinton sent a list to Jacket Copy, a book news blog at the Los Angeles Times, detailing what sort of mysteries and histories he was popping into his overnight bag these days. Among them: Steven Johnson's The Invention of Air and Tom Zoellner's Uranium, a history-cum-travel-narrative of the Atomic Age. (Perfect for Pyongyang.)
The Invention of Air. By Steven Johnson. 272 Pages. Riverhead Hardcover. $25.95.
For Obama, the onetime professor and two-time best-selling author, reading has become an even more significant part of his presidential myth-making. Good luck with the list, Mr. President, and don’t feel bad about putting Hot, Flat, and Crowded down for a re-read. Third time could be the charm.
***In addition to re-reading Friedman’s book on Martha’s Vineyard, Obama will also be tackling David McCullough’s John Adams, Richard Price’s Lush Life, Kent Haruf’s Plainsong, and George Pelecanos’ The Way Home. “Great list,” The New Yorker said, though one wonders how Obama, with two young kids and daily national-security briefings, will get through 2,333 total pages in a week.
Plus: Check out Book Beast, for more news on hot titles and authors and excerpts from the latest books.
Samuel P. Jacobs is a staff reporter at The Daily Beast. He has also written for The Boston Globe, The New York Observer, and The New Republic Online.
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Trunk-Monkey
Why do people think this is so odd? Why in the world would anyone pay thirty to forty dollars for a book that they're only going to read once?!! Jeez, people. Do you buy a DVD and watch it only once?! Do you pick a painting and only look at it once before putting it in storage?! Of course not. And books, for many of us, are just as enduring.
I've read Jared Diamond's "Collapse" three times, re-read "Nickeled and Dimed", "What's the Matter with Kansas", "Lying Liars...", "Fair Tax" and "Fair Tax:The Truth" (among others...) multiple times. IMHO, one simply cannot glean every bit of information from a book in a single reading.
Anyone who wantst to truly understand an issue studies it...and it looks to me like Obama really wants to get to the meat of geo-greenism.
Why a journalist (if one can call Jacobs a 'journalist') understand this is quite beyond me.
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n--Y--JuliusCeasarHotfrostins
I agree. When you keep filling your mind with new data from work, hobbies, news and a general appetite for knowledge its refreshing to revisit and review past reads. I collect books and have a wonderful small library. For me, depending upon the season, my mood or recent information acquired new ideas can be realized by revisiting old text.
LivingInCT
At least we are certain the current president is capable of understanding his reading list, with the exception of Friedman's, um, offering. I defy anyone to understand the piffle in there. The writing is so bad it's comical. (Google Matt Taibbi and Friedman.)
Obama must have put Friedman's book back on for the laughs.
BTW, I'm a writer, and I read several books a week. What kind of lunatic keeps a record of his page count as an indication of...anything? Rove was clearly lying about Bush's reading habits.
bgeasyas123
So how is the children's book industry doing? I mean that is your base, right?
Friedman's thoughts are pretty much crystal clear. You really think Hot, Flat, and Crowded was piffle that no one can understand because I think that it is pretty direct and the point is clear.....aside from an overuse of adjectives every once in a while.
Now Taibbi, I agree with you 110%, that guys writing is crap.
Numera1
What? A person can't read a book more than once? I've got a whole list that I've been re-reading since my high school days. Very common behavior among people who really love books and reading.
AmiBlue
Many books are worth reading more than once, but Thomas Friedman's tomes are not among them.
easton
that is simply your opinion. No one is forcing you to read Friedman twice, or even once. I am sure I can just as easily mock anything you have ever read twice (if, indeed, you have read anything twice). Trunk monkey is absolutely right, and beyond that, does anyone anywhere doubt that Obama is an intelligent and literate guy.
DougWhite
That's a cheap, ignorant shot. And I'd feel that way about your comment even if the author in question was Danielle Steele. As it happens, Mr. Friedman's writings are among the most insightful on matters concerning most humans on earth.
And I too wonder why it escapes Mr. Jacobs's sense of imagination that many books, especially thought-provoking books, might be read twice. Or more. I'm just glad this President is literate.
phoenixrain88
Yes! He's the dumbass who talked about the Iraq War being all about telling terrorists to "suck on this." Ignoring that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 ...
snewzit
So what? Why is this worthy of mention? I have a friend who reads "War and Peace" every year or two. I've read several books several times. Maybe I should get myself checked in?
Evangeline
Since I often read books more than once, what's the big deal.
I have read Scott Spencer 's "A Ship Made of Paper" three times and will probably read it a fourth.
It's a matter of opinion as to whether Friedman's book is worth a second glance. A book full of interesting ideas (whether you agree with them are not) is worth reading more than once. I often read new articles about what caused the collapse of sub prime mortgage market several times because I really want to understand what went wrong.
Chuckv
Why is this article entitled Obama's Book Gaffe? Is there the suggestion that Obama is not telling the truth?
Rereading an important book is an excellent thing to do? Personally, I never remember much of a book unless I read it twice. It really sinks into my brain the second time.
As to the suggestion that Obama just read parts during the campaign, Dr. Samuel Johnson, perhaps the best read person ever, seldom or never read books from cover to cover.
I can sort of believe the Rove and Bush had a speed reading contest. It helps to explain why Bush never seemed to learn anything.
truthiness2
Obama should read The Constitution of these United States and get some help if he has comprehension problems.
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connie47
Is that old thing still around after Bush torched it?
roger37
Hey truthiness, haven't you figured out that Colbert's show is a complete put-on of right wing wackos like you? Most Republicans who watch his show haven't figured it out yet, and that evidently includes you.
Duh?
paul6387
Really! Who would have thunk it? At least he has probably figured out that Maher's show(termed loosely), is about left wing nuts like you. As a matter of fact, maybe you are Maher. You probably also adore people like Garafalo. What a buffoon!
roger37
At least you spelled "buffoon" correctly. Most wingnuts misspell it a dozen different ways.
truthiness2
eeasyrider,connie47,roger37:
You forgot the : "He is a constitutional scholar".
Heh, heh,..
SFGiants
Actually, I was going to mention it but you beat me to it, truthi. Does that mean that your posting was meant only in jest? You've got to signal when you're being ironic, or us literal-minded Lefties ain't gonna get you!
connie47
Sam, you've never read a really good book more than once? I think most people who are *readers* actually do that. I know I have.
cregis
I have Bill Clinton to thank for introducing me to Walter Mosley. Clinton came out of a Vineyard bookstore and told reporters what he bought. The Obama list is my not cup of tea, except for maybe Netherland. I looked at it and put it down, maybe it's worth a second look. Anybody who believes W reads books should buy a bridge I've got for sale in Brooklyn. I often read books more than once. Since I read so many, can't remember them.
Trunk-Monkey
Well, it IS a documented fact that he's read at least one. It was called "My Pet Goat".
ThinkAgain
Any message is all in what they would like us to think they're reading. Whether they actually read it or not doesn't matter.
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XRISEABOVE
It turns out that reading books more than once is a time-tested Kenyan tradition. The birthers must be onto something, or just on something - either way.
flyoverland
I will be happy to lend him my copy of "The Fountainhead".
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dannyboy547
Part of the press getting all wee-weed up in August is writing stories about presidential reading lists to fill the vacuum during the congressional recess.
joe61du
It is amazing that Obama said he read a book before it was published, since that was during the campaign the right would have noticed this.
A little googling goes a long way to find the truth.
mathomas
There is nothing odd whatsoever about Obama's claim. Book reviewers get to read advance copies (galleys) of books before they are sold in stores, so it's likely that a U.S. Senator could get one, as well.
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