One big beneficiary of President-elect Obama's "60 Minutes" interview is ... drum roll please ... Montclair's own pundit and author Jonathan Alter. That's because Obama, in his prime-time interview, referred to a book he was reading about FDR's "first 100 days" in office. The New York Times did some digging and discovered that Obama was actually reading two books on the subject, one of them, "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope," penned by Alter. As of noon, Alter's book was the 57th best selling book on Amazon.
"I just think it's incredible for Jonathan," said Margot Sage-El of Watchung Booksellers, who already had a table of Lincoln and FDR books, including Alter's, set up prominently. "It's kind of a dream come true." Although she can't think of any other local authors who got book promotion quite this way, she does remember when sales of "The Art of War" spiked after Tony Soprano was spotted reading it on our favorite mob show.
Well, maybe I have a chance with Michelle.
Perhaps it's not too early to predict that, with a presidential reader, book clubs will now start to skew male and non-fiction. Any guesses on what's next on Obama's nightstand?
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Comments (39)
Book
If we are to believe what Alter's numbskull colleagues over at Newsweek are writing, my guess is the next book Obama might be tackling is this page turner.
Congrats Rt. of Center - you made me laugh.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
ROC, you are too funny!
The Big O isn't going to have time to read...
The Care and Feeding of Labradoodles.
Book
BTW, ROC, Jonathan Alter is a bonafide Montclairite and a really nice and decent fellow as well.
Happy to hear it, J.
I'd send President-elect Obama to your old blog, laserdope. Plenty of wisdom there, eh? (If never too many readers.)
But the King James version of the Bible would be useful. Obama could also send additional copies to such "spiritual leaders" as Jesse Jackson, Father Pfleger, Rev. Wright and Al Sharpton, and another to Billy Ayers.
If Obama does choose Hillary for Secretary of State, he may have read "Team of Rivals".
The Bible...good one! I think Barack leans towards non-fiction.
Always trying to be witty, eh, dannyboor? Never quite getting there, but carrying on anyway.
Cathar, the culture war is over and you lose. You're side rained death on the innocent indiscriminately killing millions. Have a nice acid trip you sick bastard.
Cathar,
I would suggest Stanley Owsleys 'white lightning'.
1000 micograms of pure LSD in a very small white tablet.
I have a feeling this stuff isn't available anymore.
Then there is 'windowpane'. Very potent but pure.
Blotter is often adulterated, I'd stay away from that.
"Cathar, the culture war is over and you lose. You're side rained death on the innocent indiscriminately killing millions."
Lasermike, I have a pretty good feeling who lost the war on grammar.
By what definition of Montclairite does the diminutive Mr. Alter qualify as bonafide?
Swine, my dyslexia has only murdered language.
He has undoubtedly read "The United States of Arugala: How We Became A Gourmet Nation" by David Kamp. Since the first family will be looking for a dog soon, "Marley and Me" would be a good choice.
Stop blaming everything on dyslexia, lasernoodle. You may have it, but that's not only why you're a numbskull.
Walleroo, what's your beef? Tell me why I am numbskull.
(speaking of books)
Children, please behave, or Mommy will send you all to bed without dinner.
Sorry Debbie, you haven't seen anything yet. I want to see walleroo put it into words.
I would give you chapter and verse, laser, but alas, Debbie has pounded the gavel. Meeting adjourned!
:) Right.
the sound track
Walleroo is an empty bag. I just wanted to see it for myself.
Mr. Money = lasermike026
We never would have guessed!
I am not empty. I'm full of space. And some hot air, too.
Bag of mostly water.
From Monica Crowley:
"And now comes word of Eric Holder as a potential Attorney General. Holder was Deputy Attorney General under the renowned Janet Reno, but his biggest claim to infamy is that he was the point man on some of the Clintons' midnight pardons---issued as they were skidding out of office on a banana peel. The most infamous was, of course, the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, which Holder signed off on despite strong objections from rational-thinking people at the Justice Department.
So, here we go again. The ferris wheel of scandal and corruption known as Clintonland is back. So is the stench of low-class thuggery and political amorality that came with the Clintons like Pig Pen's famous cloud.
And I promise to treat President Nobama with the same direspect, distrust, distain and disgust that the fair and balanced liberal media did to President Bush.
Scam-a-lot" here we come.
Another Fox idiot quoted courtesy of Iceman. If you're going to treat Obama with disdain, at least learn to spell the word.
Bush earned his reputation Ice. Keep up the good work, there are some people in Arkansas who agree.
I'm thinking bonafide must be a Mountie born a Mountie bred and when he dies, a Mountie dead. Well, unless he went to MKA.
It will be refreshing to have a president that doesn't lapse into gibberish whenever he speaks.
What's on Bush's nightstand? Mad magazine?
Wow, a president who reads books!
Bush, pardoned thousands of torturers and domestic spies. These folks are repugnant criminals and they got a free pass from an even more repugnant and criminal in the white house. Let's not forget the war of aggression that lead the deaths of hundreds of thousands.
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for his selfishness."
--John Kenneth Galbraith