Michelle Obama's Book Is Still A Bestseller One Year Later

Michelle Obama's book (Becoming) was published last year. It instantly became a bestseller -- selling 1.4 million copies in the first week.

After 15 days, it became the bestselling book for all of 2018. And by March of 2019, it had sold over 10 million copies.

And it is still a bestseller. On December 22nd, it will mark 52 weeks (one year) on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list. It is currently number 4 on the list.

Michelle Obama's Book Sell's 10 Million Copies

Michelle Obama's book (Becoming) has sold about 10 million copies so far, and her publisher believes it will be the most popular memoir ever.

Here's how Adam Carlson reports it in People Magazine:

Michelle Obama‘s Becoming has been selling astonishingly well since its November release and, reportedly with nearly 10 million copies now sold, appears to be one of the most popular memoirs in history — if not the most popular, period.

“We believe this could be the most successful memoir in history,” Thomas Rabe, head of one of Penguin Random House’s parent companies, said Tuesday according to the Wall Street Journalthis link opens in a new tab.

Penguin’s chief executive, Markus Dohle, echoed that, the Journal reports. “I’m not aware, in my personal experience with Penguin Random House, that we ever sold 10 million units of a memoir,” Dohle said.

NOTE -- Here's an interesting comparison. Donald Trump's book (The Art of the Deal), which he loves to brag about (even though it was actually written by Tony Schwartz), has in the most generous estimate sold only about 1 million copies.

Michelle's Book Is The Best-Selling Hardcover Of 2018!

From The Washington Post:

Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” is the best-selling hardcover book of 2018.

The former first lady’s memoir has sold more than 2 million copies in all formats in North America in its first 15 days, according to a statement released Friday by Penguin Random House. Now in its sixth printing, the book has 3.4 million copies in print in the United States and Canada.

In a strong indication of Obama’s popularity around the world, “Becoming” is also the No. 1 seller in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Greece. The book is being published in 31 languages. . . .

Perhaps even more striking than the popularity of “Becoming” has been the extraordinary popularity of its author. Obama’s 10-city U.S. book tour has attracted sold-out crowds across the country, with fans willing to pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars to see her. One VIP seat for Obama’s appearance in Dallas on Dec. 17 is selling for more than $10,000.

The vast majority of book authors speak for free to small crowds in bookstores. Obama’s tour resembles a popular music tour — with rock-star prices to match.

Michelle Obama's New Book Is A Huge Success

From apnews.com:

First day sales for Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” topped 725,000 copies, making it one of the year’s biggest debuts.

Crown Publishing told The Associated Press on Friday that the figures include sales and pre-orders for the former first lady’s memoir include hardcover, audio and e-books editions for the United States and Canada. “Becoming” was released on Tuesday, the same day Mrs. Obama launched a national book tour . Crown also announced that it had raised the book’s print run from 1.8 million copies to 2.6 million. Reviews of the book, which traces Obama’s journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House, have been positive, with The Washington Post praising its “impressive balance in telling the truth of her challenges while repeatedly acknowledging her lucky life.”

“Becoming” had the biggest opening of any books in 2018 by Crown’s parent company, Penguin Random House. But at least one other book this year, from Simon & Schuster, did start higher: Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White House” sold around 900,000 copies after one day.

“Becoming” is well exceeding the pace of previous memoirs by first ladies. In 2003, Hillary Clinton’s “Living History” had first week sales of around 600,000 copies, at a time when audio sales were tiny and e-book sales nonexistent.

Woodward's Book Is A Defining Moment On Trump/GOP

(Cartoon image is by Stephane Peray at cagle.com.)

Previous books about the Trump administration have been dealt with by Trump and his Republican cohorts as just being false. Bob Woodward's new book is different. That's because he has an impeccable reputation for honesty, and he has interview tapes to back up everything he said in the book. In short, the book already has Trump, his cabinet and aides, and his congressional defenders running scared.

Here is much of an excellent op-ed by Brent Budowsky for The Hill on the subject:

As the details from the new Bob Woodward book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," begin to emerge, there is trembling throughout the Republican cloakrooms in the Senate and House, throughout the White House staff and throughout the community of those who have been Trump’s most visible shills and apologists in the media.

Woodward’s book is a tale of contempt toward the president from a long list of his closest advisors in the White House and contempt from the president toward many of his closest past and current advisors. . . .

It is not surprising to learn that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and current White House chief of staff John Kelly are quoted as referring to Trump with words such as “idiot” and “moron” (often attached to profanity).

It is not surprising to learn that Secretary of Defense James Mattis is quoted as saying that Trump has the understanding of a fifth- or sixth-grader, and that senior White House aides literally stole and hid papers from the president’s desk to prevent him from taking actions they believed could threaten American and world security.

It is not surprising to learn that most of the upper echelon of the White House staff was at internal war with the president to protect him from his lesser instincts and to protect the nation and the world from the extreme dangers he could cause to the nation and world by his reckless and intemperate behavior.

It is not surprising that Trump’s legal team does not want him to testify under oath before special counsel Robert Mueller because they fear that he would lie so much that he would, as his former lawyer John Dowd was quoted as saying, end up "wearing an orange jumpsuit."

It is not surprising that Trump has such extreme contempt for Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he called him mentally retarded and mocked his Southern accent, which will not help Republicans or Trump in Southern states.

It is only slightly surprising to read that Trump has such stinging contempt for his lawyer Rudy Giuliani that he is quoted comparing him to a baby who needs a change of diapers.

The day Woodward's book is released will be a day of reckoning. It will be a reckoning for White House staff and cabinet members who will now be in meetings with the president in which Trump knows what they said about him, and they know what Trump has said about them.

It will be a reckoning for Republicans in the House and Senate who act like automatons marching in lockstep to defend Trump. . . .

It will put intense pressure on those who can fairly be called Trump shills, defending him on various media outlets, whose own credibility has already been damaged by their defenses of Trump, often with dubious arguments. 

Will they continue to put their names in writing or their faces on television defending Trump and discussing, point by point, the revelations in the Woodward book?

History will show that the Manafort convictions were a defining moment in the midterm elections and the Russia investigations.

It will also show the Woodward book will be a defining moment as the American people render judgment on the Trump presidency, his defenders, apologists, enablers and shills.

Trump Has The 4 Warning Signs Of A Budding Tyrant

(This image of Donald Trump is by DonkeyHotey.)

The following is just a small part of an excellent article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. It should scare the hell out of you (and make you determined to vote blue this November).

Two political scientists specializing in how democracies decay and die have compiled four warning signs to determine if a political leader is a dangerous authoritarian:

1. The leader shows only a weak commitment to democratic rules. 

2. He or she denies the legitimacy of opponents. 

3. He or she tolerates violence. 

4. He or she shows some willingness to curb civil liberties or the media.

“A politician who meets even one of these criteria is cause for concern,” Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, both professors at Harvard, write in their important new book, “How Democracies Die,” which will be released next week.

“With the exception of Richard Nixon, no major-party presidential candidate met even one of these four criteria over the last century,” they say, which sounds reassuring. Unfortunately, they have one update: “Donald Trump met them all.”

We tend to assume that the threat to democracies comes from coups or violent revolutions, but the authors say that in modern times, democracies are more likely to wither at the hands of insiders who gain power initially through elections. That’s what happened, to one degree or another, in Russia, the Philippines, Turkey, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Poland and Peru.

Elizabeth Warren -- The Honest Outsider

The following is an excerpt from Elizabeth Warren's book, "A Fighting Chance". She relates a conversation she had with National Economic Council director Larry Summers as she was beginning her fight to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (which protects consumers from the most egregious abuses of the giant Wall Street firms).

In early April, I got a call from the office of Larry Summers. I didn’t know Larry well, but I’d met him a few times while he was president of Harvard in the early 2000s. According to reports, Larry had been Tim Geithner’s mentor when they were both in the Treasury Department in the 1990s. Now Larry was the director of the National Economic Council, which meant that, along with Secretary Geithner, he advised President Obama on economic issues. Would I be interested in meeting him for dinner?

Sure, I replied. Larry’s office suggested the Bombay Club, an Indian restaurant near the White House. Quiet and softly lit, it served Washington’s power elite.

When Larry arrived for our dinner, he ordered a Diet Coke as soon as he sat down. He glanced at the menu, ordered quickly and soon the food started coming.

It was a long dinner, with plenty of intense back-and-forth about everything from the bailout, to deregulation, to the foreclosure crisis. I also talked to Larry about an idea I’d been working on for a new consumer financial agency and he seemed interested. We didn’t agree on everything, but I give Larry full credit: I’ll take honest conversation and debate any day of the week over the duck-and-cover stuff I so often saw in Washington that spring.

Late in the evening, Larry leaned back in his chair and offered me some advice. By now, I’d lost count of Larry’s Diet Cokes, and our table was strewn with bits of food and spilled sauces. Larry’s tone was in the friendly-advice category. He teed it up this way: I had a choice. I could be an insider or I could be an outsider. Outsiders can say whatever they want. But people on the inside don’t listen to them. Insiders, however, get lots of access and a chance to push their ideas. People — powerful people — listen to what they have to say. But insiders also understand one unbreakable rule: They don’t criticize other insiders.

I had been warned.

Thank goodness Elizabeth Warren didn't heed that warning from Summers. She still speaks the truth, and she still fights openly to help and protect American citizens. We could use a lot more people like Senator Warren in government (at all levels).

Hillary Clinton's New Book Is Doing Well

The first printing of Hillary Clinton's new book, Hard Choices, was 1,000,000 copies. The nation's book stores have already purchased all of those books, and are now selling them to the public.

How is the book selling? Well, Barnes & Noble sold 24,000 copies in the first six days they had it for sale -- making it their number one seller for the week.

I went to Amazon's book pages. Amazon has it listed fourth in their top 100 books (and are calling it the hottest new release they have). That's pretty impressive considering the book has only been out for a week.

Congratulations Hillary! I hope the book has to go into a second printing.

Idiots

I was outraged by these two stories and wanted to comment on them. After thinking about it, I decided they could both be discussed under one heading -- idiots (because that is exactly what I consider these people to be).

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Let me start with this story of a mother in Michigan. Gail Horalek has decided that one of the most widely-read books in the world (and deservedly so), The Diary of Anne Frank, is pornographic. Her middle school daughter was "made uncomfortable" when she read the book, according to Horalek, because there is a passage in the book where Anne discusses her genitalia.

This has horrified Horalek (who is evidently trying to hide from her daughter the fact that humans have genitalia), and she now wants the school to either remove the book or make parents sign a permission slip before their children can read it.

Now Horalek had a choice when her daughter told her it made her "uncomfortable". She could use that as a teaching moment, and initiated a discussion of both human sexuality and the ideas contained in the book -- or she could try to ban the book. Sadly, she chose the latter.

Horalek told her local newspaper, "It doesn't mean my child is sheltered, it doesn't mean I live in a bubble, and it doesn't mean I'm trying to ban books." She's wrong. That's exactly what it means.

The fact is that The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most important books ever published. It is absolutely appropriate for middle school aged children, and in my opinion, should be required reading. I made sure my children read it before they entered high school. They were also made "uncomfortable". But it was by the horrific actions of the Nazi regime in carrying out the murder of innocents like Anne Frank and her family.

This woman is an idiot.

------------------------------

This story is even more horrific, because it involves the killing of a two year old child. The baby was shot by her five year old brother. And the crazy part is that the five year old didn't use an adult's gun to shoot his sister. He did it with his own gun.

The parents of the two children had bought the five year old his own gun, and given it to him. The gun, a .22 caliber rifle called a Crickett, was like those pictured at the left -- made and marketed to children by Keystone Sporting Arms (a Pennsylvania gun company).

The shooting is being called an accident, but I have to question that. I'm not blaming the five year old, but his parents and the gun company. Giving a dangerous firearm to a five year old and marketing weapons made especially for children are both ridiculously dangerous actions, and create a situation where a tragedy is likely to happen. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Personally, I hold both the parents and the gun company responsible for the death of the two year old.

The parents and the gun-makers are all idiots.

Please Tell Me This Is A Joke

Could this possibly be true? The world's most famous "C" student and worst president in the history of this country, George W. Bush, is writing a book. That's what the New York Times tells us. That's right. The ex-president who has trouble even speaking the English language is going to write a book (in English). But that's not the worst part. There are proof readers working for publishing companies, who can work tons of overtime hours translating Bush's book into readable English.

The really crazy part is what the book is going to be about. In his book, George is going to tell America how to solve its economic problems. Yes, you read that right. The man who inherited a budget surplus and turned it into the nation's largest ever deficit, sending this country into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, is going to give us his advice on how to boost economic growth. Here is his economic record:

* Inherited a budget surplus and turned it into a deficit of over $4 trillion.

* Presided over the biggest Wall Street crash since 1929 (costing investors trillions of dollars), and then spent $700 billion to bail out giant Wall Street banks (while hundreds of smaller banks across the country went under).

* Between 2001 and 2007 (before the crash and the recession) the Bush economy had the worst economic expansion of the post World War II era.

* In the first seven years of his presidency, Bush had the smallest job growth of any administration since World War II (and then many millions of jobs were lost in 2008).

* The Bush administration experienced the lowest GDP growth of any administration since World War II (and this is true even when the recession year of 2008 is not counted).

* Household income growth under Bush was negative for the first time since it started being tracked in 1967 (except for the 1% and the corporations, who did very well under Bush).

Is this really the man we want to be taking economic advice from? If this book is written, published, and purchased by bookstores for re-sale, it would be a crime to put it in the economics section. Maybe there'll be some room on the shelves dedicated to comedy. That's where it would belong.

Rick Perry Is Not Gay !

For quite a while now there's been a rumor floating around Texas that Rick Perry might be gay. Most of us have avoided writing much about the accusation because there was no one who would come right out and make the charge or provide any proof. That has now changed. Austin's Glen Maxey, the first openly gay person elected to the Texas legislature, has written a book about his search to find out the truth about Rick Perry. The book is titled Head Figure Head: The Search For The Hidden Life Of Rick Perry.


So what did Mr. Maxey find out? He says that Rick Perry is not gay -- he just likes to have sex with men. From the blog of the inimitable Juanita Jean (Owner of the world's most dangerous beauty salon, inc.) we find this quote from Mr. Maxey:

Throughout this story, I’ve been careful to refer to Perry’s activities as homosexual or same-sex, never “gay.” That’s because as far as I’m concerned, Rick Perry isn’t gay. He’s a man who has sexual encounters with other men. Those men predominantly identify themselves as gay. But Rick Perry is not, as far as I am concerned, gay.

Being gay is much more than just sex. Being gay is having an emotional relationship with a member of the same sex.

I'm sure that gays all over the state of Texas are now breathing a sigh of relief. They have plenty enough problems without being saddled with the likes of Rick Perry. I do have to wonder though how this is going to play to teabagger fundamentalist voters in Iowa and other states. Somehow, I don't think they'll understand the difference between being gay and just enjoying sex with other men.

Mr. Maxey's book is now available on Kindle for the very reasonable price of $9.99. For those of you, like myself, who don't have a Kindle reader, the paperback version should be out in about a week. It should make for some interesting reading.

Palin Tries To Bully Book Publisher

If there's anything that Sarah Palin doesn't want the public to know about, it's what a despicable person she really is. So she really was upset when the book by Joe McGinniss was released by Crown Publishing. The book, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, lays out the truth about what Palin is like, warts and all.

Evidently Palin thought she could bully the publishers of McGinniss's book, and get it pulled off the shelves. She turned her attorney, John Tiemessen, loose to threaten them with a lawsuit. Tiemessen sent Crown Publishing Group a letter threatening to sue them if they continued selling the book, saying the book contained "lies and rumors" and "amounted to the wishful fantasies of disturbed individuals".

But Crown Publishing, a division of publishing giant Random House, doesn't scare too easily. Crown spokesman Stuart Applebaum said the reporting in the book is "solid, reliable, and well-substantiated", and the company will stand behind McGinniss and his book.

The crazy thing about all of this is that the book wasn't flying off the shelves. It hasn't cracked the non-fiction top twenty on the New York Times best-seller list, and when I checked the Amazon top 100 earlier today it was number 78 on that list. But now that Palin has tried to bully the publisher I expect sales will pick up. People will want to know what's in the book that has her so upset.  And that may already be starting to happen. When I re-checked the Amazon list a few minutes ago, the book had moved up to number 76.

Palin is not going to sue because: 1) The publisher would love that since book sales would go through the roof. 2) The publishers have their ducks all in a row and the author can back up his claims. 3) Palin is a bully, and bullies never take on people willing to fight back.

If she's smart (which is very doubtful), she'll just shut up about the book. All she's doing right now is selling more of the books. I can't believe she doesn't realize that.

Why We Should Still Despise Dick Cheney

Former vice-president and noted war criminal Dick Cheney has written a book. He doesn't need the money, so he must be trying to rehabilitate his own image -- a formidable task indeed. Frankly, I think this pathetic excuse for a human being deserves nothing but to be despised by all Americans. He and his puppet (George Bush) caused serious damage to this country in the eight years they were in office -- damage it could take many years to correct.

Over at the website of The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf has written an excellent article called "Remembering Why Americans Loathe Dick Cheney". It's very good and I recommend you go over and read it all. Here are his eight reasons to loathe Cheney:

THE WAR IN IRAQ
TORTURE
ILLEGALLY SPYING ON INNOCENT AMERICANS
HALLIBURTON
AHMED CHALABI
INSTRUMENTAL IN DETAINING INNOCENTS FOR YEARS ON END
RADICAL VIEW OF EXECUTIVE POWER
UNPRINCIPLED EFFORTS TO MAXIMIZE PERSONAL POWER

Then he gives a great conclusion:

Dick Cheney was a self-aggrandizing criminal who used his knowledge as a Washington insider to subvert both informed public debate about matters of war and peace and to manipulate presidential decisionmaking, sometimes in ways that angered even George W. Bush.

 

After his early years of public service, he capitalized on connections he made while being paid by taxpayers to earn tens of millions of dollars presiding over Halliburton. While there, he did business with corrupt Arab autocrats, including some in countries that were enemies of the United States. Upon returning to government, he advanced a theory of the executive that is at odds with the intentions of the founders, successfully encouraged the federal government to illegally spy on innocent Americans, passed on to the public false information about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and became directly complicit in a regime of torture for which he should be in jail.

Good riddance.

School Board Bans Literary Masterpiece

I must admit that I have never understood why anyone would ever want to ban or burn a book -- any kind of book. The simple act of banning or burning a book shows fear -- a fear of the ideas that book contains. It also shows a lack of faith in human beings to be exposed to an idea, and either follow or reject that idea based upon its merit.

The very concept of a democracy is that the people are intelligent enough to rule themselves, if educated and made aware of all the facts. This is why the Founding Fathers added the First Amendment to the Constitution. They believed in the free flow of information and ideas, and the judgement of an educated people. And they understood that the survival of our democracy depended upon this belief.

But there are many Americans today who do not seem to have this belief in the power of education and information. And some of those people are on the School Board in Republic, Missouri (a suburb of Springfield with slightly more than 14,000 inhabitants). That school board voted 4-0 to ban two books from the district's high school library -- Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler and the literary masterpiece Slaughterhouse Five by the great American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

And why were these books banned? It seems there were a few people in that community who believed the books "teach principles that are contrary to the Bible." I had thought our schools were created and sustained to provide a well-rounded education to students -- not to teach biblical principles. Religious principles should be taught in churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques -- not public schools. But evidently the people, and the school board, of Republic think differently. Making matters even more idiotic it seems that only one of the four school board members had read both books (and a third which had survived the banning).

It makes me wonder just where the fear of these books comes from. Are the nearly-adult children of these people so weak-minded that a book would cause them irreparable harm? I find that hard to believe. I cannot speak to the Ockler book because I am not familiar with it, but I bought my daughter a copy of Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle while she was in high school. She loved it and bought and read on her own all of his other books, including Slaughterhouse Five. They not only didn't harm her, but they opened her mind to new ways of thinking about the world. This was a good thing, and teaching any child to think for themselves is always a good thing.

Perhaps their fear of these books says something about their religion or faith. Is their faith or religion so weak that it can be defeated by the ideas contained in a book. If so, is it a religion worth following or a faith worth keeping? Is their god so weak he can be defeated by a mere book?

Books are not things to be feared -- even bad books with ridiculous ideas. Anyone who believes in the efficacy of democracy must also believe in the ability of people to recognize flawed or bad ideas and reject them. Democracy and freedom are threatened far more by the burning or banning of books than by allowing the reading of books with disagreeable ideas or content. And the banning of a recognized literary masterpiece makes no sense at all.

Socialist Dreams And Beauty Queens

In this post I'm doing something I rarely ever do. I'm talking about a book I recently read. I'm doing this because most Americans have heard very little about the country of Venezuela since Hugo Chavez was elected to lead that nation. Instead of doing some in-depth investigating and reporting on today's Venezuela, most of the mainstream media just repeats what it is told by the United States government, and most of that has nothing to do with the truth.

The book is Socialist Dreams and Beauty Queens, and it was written by British citizen and world traveler, Jamie Maslin (and published by Skyhorse Publishing in New York). The first part of the title has an obvious connotation -- Mr. Chavez is trying to construct a socialist society and economy in that country. The second part of the title refers to the fact that Venezuela has produced more international beauty queens than any other nation -- a fact that makes the people of Venezuela very proud. In fact, beauty contests in that country usually have a larger television audience that sports contests.

The book is a rather strange mixture of elements -- being a bit of a travelogue, a history lesson, a social tome, and a political treatise all mixed together. That may sound odd, but it works very well and makes for a very interesting read. It is made better by the fact that Maslin is a talented writer who knows how to keep the reader interested. The story of his travels in Venezuela and what he learns about the country is a very easy read and holds the reader's attention to the very end. Personally, I hated to read the last few pages because I wanted even more.

Maslin travels the country by "couch-surfing". That means he stays a few days at a time on the couches of different Venezuelan citizens. This not only allows him to save money that would otherwise be spent on hotels, but also lets him get a good view of the country and its leader from the Venezuelan people themselves. And since he stays with people from all stratums of society, he is able to get a wide range of views about Venezuela and Chavez.

I must say that Maslin makes Venezuela sound like a very beautiful country. And the natural beauty he describes would make nearly anyone want to go there to see the wonderful scenery he describes. But it is also a divided country, and the more money a Venezuelan citizen has the less likely they are to like Hugo Chavez. That is because he has instituted a new constitution that takes more from the rich and gives more to the poor. It also gives rights to the country's indigenous people for the first time.

But I feel I must warn dedicated ideologues who want only to read what they agree with -- whether you are on the right or the left, you probably won't enjoy this book. That's because Maslin is more interested in finding the truth about Venezuela than in verifying anyone's beliefs about the country.

If you are a right-winger who is convinced that Hugo Chavez is a communist dictator who is destroying his country, you will be disappointed in this book because that is not the truth. The truth is that Chavez was elected (and re-elected) by a large majority in fair elections, and he is trying to make the country fairer and more democratic for all its citizens. And he has done this in spite of a right-wing coup attempt (funded and backed by the United States).

If you are a left-winger who thinks Chavez has created some kind of socialist paradise in Venezuela, you will also be disappointed because that also is not the full truth. Venezuela has some serious social problems like a rampant political corruption and a crime problem that is out-of-control (especially murders). Although both problems pre-date Chavez's rise to power, he has not been able to do much about either one.

But if you are interested in what Venezuela is really like and in what is happening in that country now, then this is an excellent book to read. I highly recommend it. In fact, it was so good that I'll now have to find and read Maslin's first book -- Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran.  

A New Diary By Che

One of the biggest revolutionary heros of the Twentieth Century was Argentine-born Ernesto "Che" Guevara (pictured above with Fidel Castro). Che, who was trained as a doctor, was instrumental in the Cuban Revolution that overthrew the dictator Batista in 1959. He was Castro's second-in-command and beloved, not only by the Cuban people, but also by people all over the world seeking social and economic justice. He was killed in Bolivia in 1967, fighting against the oppressive government in that country.

From the time he was a young man, Che kept a diary. Two of those diaries have been printed and became bestsellers -- the diary he kept while in Bolivia and The Motorcycle Diaries (about a road trip through Latin America when he was 23 -- just before going to Cuba with Castro). The Motorcycle Diaries was made into an excellent movie.

Now there is good news for historians (and those of us interested in history -- especially left-wing history). There is a third Che diary being printed, and it may be the most important one of all. It covers the time when he came to Cuba with Castro (December 2, 1956) through the time Batiata was overthrown (January 1, 1959). It will give the world an inside look at the Cuban Revolution through the eyes of one of the most important rebel leaders (and could well turn out to be the definitive book on that revolution).

The diary has been in the possession of Che's wife, Aleida March. She said she wanted the world to know what the real Che Guevara was like and is releasing the diary unedited. Publishers say the diary sheds light on "Che Guevara's impressions of Cuba, its culture, identity and political context."

Oddly enough, it took the publishers a while to decipher Che's poor handwriting. I guess the old joke about doctors having bad handwriting is true.

Personally I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this book (as soon as an English translation is printed).

More Fake Republican Book Sales

I have posted before about how some Republicans try to make their book sales look better through fake sales. Sarah Palin not only had some conservative organizations buy her book and give it away to people, she also bought thousands of dollars worth of her own book through her political PAC. Mitt Romney made it a requirement for organizations to make bulk purchases of his book before he would give a speech for "free".

Now it looks like Rick Perry has decided this is a good idea (and probably the only way he'll sell many copies of his ridiculous book called Fed Up). Last December, about 700 copies of the governor's book was given out for free to lobbyists, legislators and activists at a conservative summit in Washington. The books were given out by the Republican Governor's Association (of which Perry just happens to be the head).

But the RGA didn't pay for the book. That was done by AT&T. The money was just funneled through the RGA so it wouldn't look like AT&T was trying to buy some favoritism from the governor and his cronies (which of course is exactly what they were trying to do). AT&T paid $26 dollars apiece for the 700 books, which only sell for $22. I'm assuming the RGA kept the extra $2800 as a "donation".

Why can't Republicans just be honest about their book sales and their corporate donations? Do they really think they're fooling anyone?

Palin's New Book Is Faux Best-Seller

Sarah Palin has foisted another ghost-written book on the public.   Actually it is just another gripe session attacking the people who have supposedly done her wrong.   But it was not written to be a literary landmark -- it was written to make Palin some more money (which is, after all, her one true love).

I just checked Amazon.com and it looks like the book is another "best-seller" -- sort of.   Amazon has it listed at number 16 on the best-seller list so far.   But don't take that to mean that many thousands of individual Americans are rushing out to buy the book.   No, this new book is making the best-seller list the same way her other book did -- with bulk sales from conservative organizations (who will try to give the book away to people).

Godless Liberal Homo clues us in to one of these organizations trying to pump up Palin's book.   The ultra-right-wing Townhall Magazine has made a bulk purchase of the book, and is offering free copies to anyone who subscribes to their magazine.   I'm sure they're not the only ones who are doing this.   Several conservative magazines and other organizations did this for her first book.

Frankly this sounds like a cheap way to make the best-seller list -- sort of like cheating.   But I doubt that Palin (or the publisher) cares as long as the dollars roll in.   It makes me feel kind of sorry for the authors pushed down the best-seller list because of this -- the ones who are there because they actually wrote a good book that individuals are going to a bookstore to buy.

Romney's "Best-Seller" Is A Fraud

Mitt Romney has been given a lot of credit for not charging a speaking fee when scheduled to make a speech.   He has also been given credit for writing a best-selling book -- No Apology: The Case for American Greatness (pictured above).   Unfortunately, it looks like Romney may well be getting credit that he does not deserve.

While Romney many times doesn't ask for cash payments for speaking like some other Republican presidential hopefuls (Palin wants $75,000 to $100,000 for a speaking engagement), that doesn't mean he doesn't expect remuneration.   Ben Smith of politico has learned that Romney asks organizations he agrees to speak at to buy a bulk purchase of his newest book -- and the purchase would cost the organization from $25,000 to $50,000 (which would be thousands of books considering the bulk purchase discount of 40%).

This doesn't put Romney in the Palin class of speaking fees, but it does mean he gets some cash for making a speech.   He just gets the money through the back door in the form of book royalties.   And it gives him another advantage, since it catapaults his book up to best-seller status.   It is a fraudulent best-seller status (since some of the organizations are stuck with books they can't even give away, let alone sell), but it still makes him look like a popular author who has something to say that people want to read.

And just making the best-seller charts is guaranteed to sell some more books, since some people will be fooled into thinking the book is popular and worth buying (and some more royalty money goes into Romney's pocket).   This is some very sneaky stuff.

But Romney is not the only right-winger who has done this kind of thing to make it look like a book is a bonafide best-seller.   Sarah Palin's book was jumped up to the best-seller list by bulk sales to conservative organizations.   In fact, Palin's own PAC (which was supposed to be giving money to conservative candidates) made a large bulk order of her book.

I'd like to think these shenanigans aren't fooling anyone, but there are a lot of pretty stupid people around that'll take pride in their right-wing heroes' best-seller status.

I Won't Be Reading It

I've always considered myself to have a pretty high tolerance for pain. For instance after being shot in the stomach, I found myself cracking jokes with the EMS Tech on the way to the hospital. But I do have my limits, and I have no doubt that trying to read Sarah Palin's book of fiction would send me way above my pain tolerance very quickly.

Therefore, I won't be reading Sarah's book. I understand it is full of lies and half-truths, but I will leave it to much braver journalists and bloggers than me to expose them. And I'm sure many of them will spend the next month or so doing just that. However, I will avidly read as many of these commentaries as I can.

Meanwhile, President Obama has shown me that he's as smart as I thought he was. He has said that he won't be reading Palin's book either. He was a little nicer than me about it though, saying, "I probably won't, but I don't get a chance to read things other than briefing books very often these days anyway."