What's in Barack's Bookbag?

Hey! *I* was about to do the whole Oprah/Obama line -- and then the NYTimes steals it right from under me!



For Books, Is Obama New Oprah?

When President-elect Barack Obama appeared on “60 Minutes” on CBS on Sunday in his first interview since winning the election, he mentioned having read “a new book out about F .D. R.’s first 100 days” without specifically naming a title or author.

That tantalizing reference set off a scramble for the claim to First Reader rights all day Monday before a spokesman for Mr. Obama disclosed what the president-elect had actually read.

Perhaps we both, ur... 'borrowed' ... the idea from yesterday's "GalleyCat" blog:

Barack Obama can sell books. Yesterday, he admitted to reading two books about Franklin D. Roosevelt, (see below) sparking a major run at the bookstore.

And then there's this:

Yes We Can Sell Out First Printing: Obama Campaign Photo Book Is Pre-Sale Hit

Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign, the book of Scout Tufankjian's campaign trail photos, is a pre-publication hit for powerHouse Books. The publisher reports that it has sold out the 55,000-copy first edition of the book nearly a month before its scheduled mid-December release date. A second printing of 25,000 copies has been ordered to arrive at the same time

And please don't forget to stop by the magazine rack on your way out of the bookstore...
Obamas Drive Magazine Sales

Mr. Obama’s status as a recurring cover star is thanks in part to the healthy sales that the Obamas bring in. Last week’s issue sold more than 1.1 million copies on the newsstand, and in June the issue with the Obamas on the cover sold about 900,000 copies. That is just about what the magazine sells when it puts its array of Hollywood celebrities on the cover.

The First Family could revive the publishing industry all by themselves. Who needs a bailout? Detroit should just put a photo of The Obamas on each new car!

BTW: If you want to understand why he's reading Alter's book, check this:

FDR was not a socialist as he is often portrayed today. To the contrary, he was a pragmatist fighting for the survival of free enterprise and individual rights against a rapidly growing populist movement towards socialism or fascism ...This book does a great job of reminding us what FDR faced and who he really was. We can only wonder if another FDR will be able to hold us together in the next downturn when a wave of hungry, destitute, ailing old baby boomers is clambering (and voting en masse!) for government help while the economy disintegrates around them hampered by a mountain of debt.

....Seems I've heard some of that before...


Here's what I remember of mentions of The Prez-Elect's recent reading:

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria


The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by Jonathan Alter

F D R by Jean Edward Smith



Selected Poems by Derek Walcott


Just Received:

State-By-State: A Panoramic Portrait of America by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey (Hat Tip: Mark Savaras at The Elegant Variation)


and, of course, the book EVERY political pundit can't seem to stop referring to:


Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin