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…was treated very poorly … once he openly shared that he was considering getting out of the Navy to pursue other interests…What do you do when you find yourself pissed off at your former employer, out of a job, and in need of a paycheck? You start cashing in chips.
According to the Daily Beast, the book is sympathetic to Owen and says the author does not reveal the most confidential information about the raid.
The ebook, No Easy Op, is written by a group of Special Operations veterams and published by SOFREP.com, through Amazon Digital Services. It is exclusively available on the Kindle and is not available for library lending.
At least a few copies are already out. Both The Huffington Post and the Associated Press claim to have purchased copies in bookstores and report that some of the book’s details contradict official descriptions of bin Laden’s killing.
The author was reportedly in talks with studios last week about a film adaptation. Dreamsworks has issued a statement yesterday, saying, “Neither Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Studios or DreamWorks Television will be optioning Mark Owen’s book No Easy Day.”
Sawyer interviewed Woodward for his 2010 book, “Obama’s Wars”
As is typical for celebrity journalist Bob Woodward, his next book has had no title or description until now, less than a month before publication, ensuring focused media attention.
…a sweeping you-are-there account of how President Obama and the highest profile Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Congress attempted to restore the American economy and improve the federal government’s fiscal condition.”
The network will air Diane Sawyer’s “exclusive first interview” the evening before publication, followed closely the next morning by Woodward’s sit-down with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America.
In My Father’s Country, Saima Wahab’s memoir about growing up in Afghanistan rose to #60 on Amazon’s sales rankings after the author appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night. It’s no wonder; Stewart was clearly smitten with her story.
Libraries are showing a wide range of holds, from just a few to over 100.
Kirkus reviewed it, saying that the authors are each known for covering international wars, but “the war they document here is in America, where ‘[c]orporate capitalism will, quite literally, kill us, as it has killed Native Americans, African Americans trapped in our internal colonies in the inner cities, those left behind in the devastated coalfields, and those who live as serfs in our nation’s produce fields.’ Through immersion reportage and graphic narrative, the duo illuminate the human and environmental devastation in those communities, with the warning that no one is immune.”
Bill Moyers dedicates his most recent show to a book of “graphic journalism,” Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (Nation Books, 6/12/12), a collaboration between Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges and cartoonist Joe Sacco. It covers what the authors call “ sacrifice zones, those areas in America that have been offered up for exploitation in the name of profit, progress, and technological advancement.”
The book is now at #24 on Amazon’s sales rankings.
As we reported in “New Title Radar,” Bailout; An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Streetby Neil Barofsky (S&S/Free Press; 7/24) is due for major media attention this week. The New York Times, in yesterday’s Business Section, calls it a “must read.” Below, the author is interviewed on CBS This Morning today. Dozens of other appearances are scheduled on media outlets from NPR to Fox News.
Barofsky was scheduled to appear on Face the Nation yesterday, but that appears to have been bumped by coverage of the Aurora shooting.
The NYT notes that George W. Bush, after remaining largely silent on the upcoming presidential campaign, “gingerly enters the fray a little more this week with a new book outlining ways to rebuild the economy.”
Coming on Tuesday is a collection of essays by various economists called The 4% Solutionbecause it offers ideas on how to expand the economy by that amount per year. Bush has written the introduction and will launch the book at an event in Dallas tomorrow. The NYT calls it a “wonky paean to free enterprise.”
The book was embargoed, so several libraries have not ordered it. Those that have are showing few holds.
Next week brings a comic sci-fi debut from Internet entrepreneur RobReid, along with new novels from breakout authorsJohn Boyne andDeborah Harkness. In nonfiction, there’s a harrowing Iraq war memoir by Air Force veteranBrian Castner, andJames Carville and Stan Greenberg talk Democratic strategy for November. Returning literary favorites include Carlos Ruoz Zafón, Stephen Carter andKurt Anderson. And usual suspects include Gigi Levangie Grazer, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Catherine Coulter, Linda Fairstein, James Patterson, Andrew Gross and Meg Cabot, plus YA author Eoin Colfer.
Watch List
Year Zero by Rob Reid (RH/Del Rey; RH digital-only audio on OverDrive) is a satire about the movie industry, by someone who knows the business intimately (he’s the founder of the online music company, Listen.com).
It’s recommended by Entertainment Weekly for those who love The Hitchhiker”s Guide to the Galaxy. They also offer an exclusive interview with the author by John Hodgman, who reads the audio, a digital-only release (on OverDrive).
That interview isn’t revealing, but the trailer gives a good sense of the book’s tone.
The Absolutist by John Boyne (Other Press) is an novel about a WWI veteran’s reflections over 60 years on his brief, forbidden love affair in the trenches with a fellow soldier who died, by the Irish author of the YA hit The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. PW calls it “a relentlessly tragic yet beautifully crafted novel.” It got several shouts from librarians at the BEA Shout ‘n’ Share program, with Barbara Genco noting that the WWI setting makes it a good bet for fans of Downton Abbey. The publisher has a different take, comparing it to Atonement and Brokeback Mountain.
Hot Sequel
Shadow of Nightby Deborah Harkness (Penguin/Viking; Thorndike Large Print; Penguin Audiobooks) is the highly anticipated sequel to the hit debut A Discovery of Witches. This time, the action is set in Elizabethan England, where vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont and witch historian Diana Bishop search for an enchanted manuscript. Entertainment Weekly gives it a B+, a mixed grade because the story takes a while to gain momentum, but when it does, “it enchants.” People magazine concurs, giving it 3 of a possible 4 stars, saying there are “too many story lines, too many shifting time periods and a confusing slew of new characters.” Even so, it “delivers enough romance and excitement to keep the pages turning. Readers will devout it, chaos and all.”
Literary Favorites
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Harper; HarperAudio; HarperLuxe) brings together characters from The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game, who must face a mysterious stranger who visits the Sempere bookshop, and threatens to reveal a secret.
The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen Carter (RH/Knopf; Random House Audio) is a work of alternate history by the Yale Law professor and bestselling author of The Emperor of Ocean Park that explores what would have happened if President Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated. (Hint: Lincoln is accused of violating the Constitution in his conduct of the Civil War and faces impeachment.) PW says, “this is Lincoln by way of Dan Brown, complete with ciphers and conspiracies and breathless escapes, only not so breathless, since Carter lacks Brown’s talent for narrative momentum.”
True Believersby Kurt Anderson (Random House; Random House Audio) is a cultural study of a judge who opts out of consideration for a Supreme Court seat because of events in her youth, giving the novelist and host of the award-winning Studio 360 public radio show ample ground for exploring the cultural contradictions of the last 50 years. LJ says, “a good read both for those who remember the [60s] era and for those who wish to better understand that time and its social and political connections to today.”
Usual Suspects
The After Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer (RH/Ballantine; Center Point Large Print; Random House Audio) is the story of a recently widowed woman who discovers she can talk to the dead. It got a hearty endorsement on the Librarians’ Shout ‘n’ Share panel at BEA this year from Wendy Bartlett, head of collection development at Cuyahoga County PL. As we noted earlier, Wendy found The After Wife so hilarious that she ordered extra copies.
The Great Escapeby Susan Elizabeth Phillips (HarperCollins/Morrow; Thorndike Large Print; HarperAudio) recounts the further adventures of Lucy Jorik, daughter of the former U.S. President, who left her perfect fiance at the altar to explore her alter ego, a biker chick named Viper. LJ says, “with brilliant dialog, sassy humor, and laserlike insight into what makes people tick, Phillips gifts readers with an engrossing, beautifully written romance that satisfies on all levels.”
Backfire (FBI Series #16) by Catherine Coulter (Penguin/Putnam; Thorndike Large Print; Brilliance Audio) finds husband-and-wife FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock pursuing a killer who shoots a San Francisco judge. PW says, “Coulter mixes romance, strong family ties, narrow misses, and narrower escapes as well as some twists that strain credulity to the breaking point. Series fans will applaud the strong female leads and the nifty teamwork of Savich and Sherlock.”
Night Watch by Linda Fairstein (Penguin/Dutton; Thorndike Large Print; Penguin Audio) has Manhattan Sex Crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper probing the underside of New York’s fanciest restaurants, based on evidence in a rape case involving director of the World Economic Bureau and a hotel maid. Kirkus says, “not surprisingly, the case ripped from the headlines is much more absorbing than the tale of restaurant malfeasance and [Cooper's] imperiled love. Alex’s 14th is distinctly below average for this bestselling series.”
I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Large Print; Hachette Audio) is the fifth installment in the series featuring Detective Michael Bennett, this time featuring South American crime lord who brings new violence to Manhattan.
15 Secondsby Andrew Gross (HarperCollins/Morrow; Harperluxe) is a stand-alone thriller that explores an accidental shooting that leaves an innocent participant as the target of a huge police manhunt. Booklist says “Gross, who has collaborated with James Patterson on five best-sellers, turns out a page-turning, roller-coaster of a novel with a likable if sometimes foolish protagonist.”
Size 12 and Ready to Rock: A Heather Wells Mystery by Meg Cabot (HarperCollins/Morrow; Audio, Dreamscape Media) is latest installment in this ongoing paperback original series. Here, New York College Resident Dorm Director Heather Wells investigates a case with her fiance that involves her ex’s new wife. PW says, “Readers of Cabot’s blog will recognize Heather, with her hilarious pop culture references and dry humor. A good read, though fans might find the plot disappointing in the context of the big picture.”
Children
Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (Disney/Hyperion; Audio, RH/Listening Library) is the eighth and final installment in the popular series, in which the evil pixie Opal Koboi infuses Artemis’s brothers with the spirits of dead warriors, making them more annoying than ever.
Nonfiction
The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life That Follows by Brian Castner (RH/Doubleday; Center Point Large Print; Random House Audio) recounts the author’s years as an air force officer in Saudi Arabia in 2001, and Iraq in 2005 and 2006, where he earned a Bronze Star and performed the “long walk” to dismantle bombs by hand and in short order, when robots failed. Kirkus calls it, “scarifying stuff, without any mawkishness or dumb machismo–not quite on the level of Jarhead, but absolutely worth reading.”
It’s The Middle Class, Stupid!by James Carville and Stan Greenberg (Penguin/Blue Rider Press; Penguin Audio) brings together liberal talking head Carville and pollster Greenberg to discuss why Democrats must focus on the middle class to win in November. Kirkus says, “they are refreshingly specific in some of their policy recommendations in areas such as energy investment and campaign finance reform. For Democratic political junkies who enjoy straight-talk policy discussion.” 125,000 copy first printing.
Next week brings two buzzed-about debuts: a thriller by Jean Zimmerman set in 1663 New Amsterdam and Carol Rifka Brunt‘s tale of two sisters in the age of AIDS. Plus two authors with growing followings are back: Leila Meacham with a sprawling Texas soap opera, and Linda Castillo with the fourth installment in her Amish series. Usual suspects include Janet Evanovich, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, and Ridley Pearson. In nonfiction, Rachel Swarns delves into First Lady Michelle Obama’s ancestry and David Maraniss explores President Obama’s background and character development.
Watch List
The Orphanmaster by Jean Zimmerman (Penguin/Viking Books; Penguin Audiobooks; Thorndike Large Print) is a debut historical thriller set in New Amsterdam in 1663, in which a young Dutch woman and an English spy investigate the disappearances of a handful of orphans. Booklist calls it a “compulsively readable, heartbreaking, and grisly mystery set in a wild, colonial America will appeal to fans of Robert McCammon’s fast-paced and tautly suspenseful Mister Slaughter and Eliot Pattison’s Bone Rattler.” USA Today listed it as the top summer reading pick for the mystery/suspense category. Zimmerman was the first author in our Penguin Debut Authors program (read the chat & hear a podcast Q&A with the author here). She will also be featured on the ALTAFF Historical Fiction panel at ALA (Sat., 10:30 to noon)
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (RH/Dial Press) is a debut novel about two sisters who lose their uncle in the mid-’80s as AIDS is on the rise, and must come to terms with ”love that’s too big to stay in a tiny bucket. Splashing out in the most embarrassing way possible.” On our GalleyChat, one librarian called it the “best book I’ve ever read.” Like the previous titles, it is one of BookPage‘s Most-Buzzed About Debuts. The Minneapolis Star Tribunelists it among their eight books for summer: “Carol Rifka Brunt establishes herself as an emerging author to watch. Tell the Wolves I’m Home will undoubtedly be this summer’s literary sleeper hit.”
Tumbleweeds by Leila Meacham (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is the sprawling story of a love triangle between two high school football heroes and the orphan girl they befriend, who are separated by a teenage prank gone awry and an accidental pregnancy, with far-reaching consequences. LJ says, “Readers who love epic sagas that span a couple of generations will enjoy this soap opera tale of young love, betrayal, and living a life that might not have a happy ending.” 125,000-copy first-printing. One-day laydown.
Gone Missing: A Thriller by Linda Castillo (Macmillan/Minotaur) is the fourth Amish mystery featuring Chief of Police Kate Burkholder, and is set during Rumspringa — when Amish teens are allowed to experience life outside the community, a practice that always fascinates outsiders. PW says, “Castillo ratchets up the tension nicely before the disconcerting ending.” Castillo’s previous titles have hit the NYT hardcover list, but only the extended (highest, #21). Holds are heavy in some libraries. The publisher is putting extra marketing push behind this one.
Usual Suspects
Wicked Business: A Lizzy and Diesel Novel by Janet Evanovich (RH/Bantam; RH Audio; Thorndike Large Print) finds Salem, Massachusetts pastry chef Lizzy Tucker once again drawn into solving a mystery with her sexy but off-limits partner Diesel – this time involving an ancient Stone believed by some to be infused with the power of lust.
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Harper) is the Discworld creator’s first novel in 30 years to be set in a new universe – this time comprised of an infinite number of parallel Earths, all devoid of humans, which will be explored by the gifted Joshua Valiente, employee of the Black Corporation. PW says, “the slow-burning plot plays second fiddle to the fascinating premise, and the authors seem to have more fun developing backstory and concepts than any real tension. An abrupt conclusion comes as an unwelcome end to this tale of exploration.”
The Risk Agentby Ridley Pearson (Putnam Adult; Brilliance Audio) is a thriller about a Chinese National who runs into intrigue while working for an American-owned in Shanghai (where the author lived with his family in 2008-2009). LJ says, “Famous for his plotting and attention to details, Pearson is off to a great start with his compelling and multilayered new protagonists. His many fans as well as readers who love international thrillers won’t be disappointed.”
Nonfiction
American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obamaby Rachel L. Swarns (HarperCollins/Amistad) is the story of the First Lady’s lineage, starting with slave girl Melvinia in the mid 1800s in Jonesboro, Georgia, the mother of Dolphus Shields, Michelle Obama’s maternal great-great-grandfather. Kirkus says, “Swarns provides numerous tales of heartbreak and achievement, many of which essentially make up the American story. Elegantly woven strands in a not-so-easy-to-follow whole, but tremendously moving.” 100,000-copy first printing.
Barack Obama: The Story by David Maraniss (Simon & Schuster; S&S Audio) is a multi-generational biography of Barack Obama and his family, based on hundreds of interviews, including with President Obama – written by the author and associate editor of the Washington Post. PW says, “Obama’s story here is interior and un-charismatic, but it makes for a revealing study in character-formation as destiny. The book ends as Obama prepares to enter Harvard Law.” One-day laydown.
A handful of much-anticipated summer reading picks arrive next week, including thrillers from Matthew Quirk, Gillian Flynn and Elizabeth Haynes, contemporary novels with unusual characters and settings from Francesca Segal andRhian Ellis, and Laura Moriarty‘s historical novel about the young Louise Brooks’s chaperone. Usual suspects include Jeffrey Deaver, Eric Von Lustbader, Laurell K. Hamilton, Mary Kay Andrews and Luanne Rice. And political commentators David Limbaugh and Gail Collins deliver new political critiques.
Watch List
The 500 by Matthew Quirk (Hachette/Little, Brown.Reagan Arthur; Hachette Large Print ; Hachette Audio) is a thriller set in a Washington D.C. political lobbying firm, where Harvard law grad Mike Ford is forced to draw on the skills he learned from his con man father, as he’s drawn into the midst of a political conspiracy. It’s the lead thriller on USA Today‘s summer reading list (“Why it’s hot: Early reviews compare this classic David-and-Goliath tale to the early works of John Grisham”) and a June Indie Next pick. The movie rights were sold right after the book was picked up, and there’s also a sequel coming. Libraries that bought it heavily say the Reagan Arthur imprint makes them pay particular attention.
The Innocents by Francesca Segal (Hyperion/Voice) recasts Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence in a close-knit North West London Jewish community, where a 12-year engagement is upset by the arrival of the bride-to-be’s free-spirited cousin. Kirkus says, “overall this is a well-tuned portrait of a couple whose connection proves to be much more tenuous than expected, and of religious rituals that prove more meaningful than they seem.” It’s also a June Indie Next pick.
Galley Chat Picks
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown) is the story of a marriage gone badly wrong, told alternately in diary entries by the wife, a New York golden girl who goes missing on the couple’s fifth anniversary, and her husband, who has much to hide. As we wrote earlier, it’s shaping up to be the author’s breakout. The New York Times‘s Janet Maslin is over the moon about it, comparing Flynn with Patricia Highsmith and calling her third novel a “dazzling breakthrough. It is wily, mercurial, subtly layered and populated by characters so well imagined that they’re hard to part with.” It is also on Time‘s list of top fiction for the year and is a June Indie Next pick as well as big on GalleyChat.
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty (Penguin/Riverhead; Thorndike Large Print; Blackstone Audio; Penguin Audio) centers on the prim married woman from Kansas who accompanied 15 year-old silent film femme fatale Louise Brooks on her first trip to New York City in 1922, and spans the next six decades of the older woman’s life. It’s on O magazine’s The 16 Best Books Coming Out This June and is a June Indie Next pick (more bookseller comments here). It’s also showing heavy holds at Wake County Library, which has featured it on their Web site. Recreational Reading Librarian Janet Lockhart says, “Once our members see it on the list, the cover and the high concept plot lead to holds. I know it’s in my to-be-read pile because of those two things—I’m a big movie fan and Louise Brooks is an icon.”
Into the Darkest Cornerby Elizabeth Haynes (Harper) is a debut thriller about a woman struggling to escape an abusive relationship, a surprise hit in the UK. It’s featured in USA Today‘s summer preview, and LJ says, “UK police intelligence analyst Haynes has crafted a scary and superbly written debut thriller. Her chilling portrayal of OCD and the violent cycles of an abusive relationship will cause readers to lose sleep and check the locks on windows and doors.”
Readers Advisory
After Life (Book Lust Rediscoveries) by Rhian Ellis (Amazon Encore paperback; Brilliance Audio) is the second in Nancy Pearl’s series of favorites being brought back in to print. This one is also a favorite of Ann Patchett’s, who calls it, ”that rarest of wonders, a book that is both exquisitely written and a thrill to read.”
Usual Suspects
XOby Jeffery Deaver (S&S; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print) follows rising country pop singer Kayleigh Towne as she’s threatened by a stalker while people close to her die, putting pressure on Special Agent Kathryn Dance to solve the case; on USA Today‘s summer reading list.
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Imperativeby Eric Van Lustbader (Hachette/Grand Central) is the seventh Bourne novel, this time set in Sadeloga, Sweden, where Bourne helps a man who, like him, suffers from amnesia. PW says, “Newbies who want to understand the various plot lines would be advised to begin at least two or three books back. Established fans will find all the usual cliffhangers, hairbreadth escapes, and multiple betrayals they expect from this series.” 250,000 copy first printing.
Little Night by Luanne Rice (Penguin/Pamela Dorman) is the author’s 30th novel. It tells the story of two sisters – one of whom, Clare, wound up in prison after she tried to save her sister, Anne, from an abusive husband, whom Anne lied to protect him. LJ says, “this hard-to-put-down story about how family ties can be undone and sometimes retied is compelling and will undoubtedly resonate with fans of contemporary women’s fiction.”
Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; Wheeler Publishing; Macmillan Audio) is the tale of two exes who get a second chance when one of their weddings is unexpectedly halted. PW calls is “unmemorable” but still “an enjoyable escape.” This one is a Costco Pennie’s Pick for June (the article also mentions that the success of the Andrews’ books has brought attention to the books she wrote under her own name, Kathy Trocheck. HarperCollins will re-release the Callahan Garrity series with new covers under the Andrews name. They will also be available as ebooks).
Kiss the Dead(Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series #21) by Laurell K. Hamilton (Penguin/Berkley; Penguin Audio) finds U.S. Marshall and vampire hunter confronting the terrorist fringe of a group of rouge vampires. PW says, “there’s nothing here that Hamilton hasn’t done already, but there’s enough to sustain readers until Anita’s next escapade.”
Historian Douglas Brinkley‘s biography of Walter Cronkite – the TV reporter known for decades as “the most trusted man in America” – is already drawing early reviews and praise for its unexpected revelations about this private man. Emmy-winning Daily Show writer Kevin Bleyer also sends up contemporary political designs on the U.S. Constitution in Me the People. In fiction, there’s a promising debut thriller by longtime TV cameraman John Steele, plus new titles from Jeff Shaara, Clive Cussler and Joseph Kanon.
Watch List
The Watchers by Jon Steele (Penguin/Blue Rider Press) is a debut thriller about a series of murders tied to a religious work about fallen angels, written by an award-winning news cameraman who has covered wars around the globe. It’s a June Indie Next pick, and Library Journal says, “although it takes a while for the story to gather steam, and the characters sometimes seem flat, the suspense builds to a satisfying climax as the author deftly sets the stage for book two in this planned trilogy.” 100,000 copy first printing.
Usual Suspects
A Blaze of Glory by Jeff Shaara (Ballantine Books; Random House Large Print Publishing; Random House Audio) begins a new Civil War trilogy. It starts in 1862, as the Confederate Army falters after the loss of Fort Donelson, and face what will become the Battle of Shiloh.
The Storm: A Novel from the NUMA Files by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown (Putnam; Penguin Audio Books) continues this popular series with the tale of researchers who uncover a plan to permanently alter the weather on a global scale. 500,000 copy first printing.
Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon (S&S/Atria; Thorndike Large Print) is a thriller about an American businessman working for the Allies in Istanbul, and is a June Indie Next pick. Library Journal says, “some thrillers don’t just entertain but put us smack in the middle of tough moral questions, and it’s no surprise that the author of The Good German has done just that in his superbly crafted new work.” Kanon will speak at the AAP/EarlyWord lunch at Book Expo on Tuesday, June 5.
Children’s
Pinkalicious: Soccer Starby Victoria Kann (HarperCollins) is an adventure for beginning readers about Pinkalicious and her soccer team, the Pinksters. 175,000 copy first printing.
Nonfiction
Cronkite by DouglasBrinkley (Harper; Harperluxe; HarperAudio; Thorndike Large Print) is a biography of the newsman who was an cultural icon for decades before his retirement in 1981, drawing on Cronkite’s just-opened private papers and interviews with more than 200 family and friends, including Morley Safer and Katie Couric. Reviewing it for Newsweek, media columnist Howard Kurtz calls it “sweeping and masterful,” and says it reveals that “the man who once dominated television journalism was more complicated—and occasionally more unethical—than the legend that surrounds him. Had Cronkite engaged in some of the same questionable conduct today—he secretly bugged a committee room at the 1952 GOP convention—he would have been bashed by the blogs, pilloried by the pundits, and quite possibly ousted by his employer.” LJ notes, “this one’s big; with a one-day laydown on 5/29, a 250,000-copy first printing, and a seven-city tour.” Brinkley will appear on CBS’s Face the Nation this Sunday.
Me the People: One Man’s Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of Americaby Kevin Bleyer (Random House) is an irreverent look at the Constitution by an Emmy-winning Daily Show writer. Kirkus says, “Among the radical suggestions in Bleyer’s revision is to make every citizen a member of Congress, since, as it stands, “Con-gress is the opposite of pro-gress.” Funny stuff with both a point and a perspective.” Jon Stewart has already promoted it on The Daily Show and will undoubtedly do more.
MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow has been appearing on other shows to promote her first book, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power(Crown; BOT Audio; ebook and audio on OverDrive). On The Daily Show last night, she told Jon Stewart that, as much as she hates to write, she needed the long form of a book to lay out her argument that we have become a nation that wages perpetual war.
Today is publication day for former Senator Russ Feingold’s book, While America Sleeps. After his appearance on NPR’s Morning Editiontoday, he is headed to the Daily Show for an interview with Jon Stewart. The New York Times blog, “The Caucus” today says that in the book, Feingold, who was the only one to vote against the Patriot Act, offers an “insider’s viws of the Senate Post-Sept. 11,” one that was “off kilter.”
Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan appeared on Fox News on Friday after being dropped by MSNBC, where he had been a commentator for the last ten years. He was on suspension from the station for the last 4 months after the release of his latest book, Suicide of a Superpower. Citing the chapters titled ”The End of White America” and “The Death of Christian America,” many organizations had called for Buchanan’s ouster. In January, the president of MSNBC signaled his displeasure by saying, “The ideas he put forth [in the book] aren’t really appropriate for national dialogue, much less the dialogue on MSNBC.”
In the Fox interview, Buchanan told Sean Hannity, that he feels he is the victim of a blacklist against “conservative and traditionalist thought.”
Suicide of a Superpower debuted at #4 on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction list after its first week on sale. It slid down to #25 after three weeks and is no longer on the list.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown) is the story of a marriage gone badly wrong, told alternately in diary entries by the wife, a New York golden girl who goes missing on the couple’s fifth anniversary, and her husband, who has much to hide. As we wrote earlier, it’s shaping up to be the author’s breakout. The 
