Lowballing Bush Memoirs

Laura Bush was on Fox News yesterday, probably the last in a round of appearances to drum up interest in her memoirs.

For some reason, publishers have not been bidding up any proposals for Bush nostalgia, even those of the relatively popular First Lady.

“One question that seems to be weighing on prospective editors,” the New Yorker reports, “is whether a book by Mrs. Bush will provide a candid account of her feelings, and perhaps counter the popular view of her as an opinion-free robot.”

Candid? What world are these publishing people living in? White House memoirs deal in self-justification, rewriting history and sometimes revenge (pace Nancy Reagan), but candor is never on the menu.

If it were, what we would most want to hear from Laura Bush is not about the White House years, but how she married a middle-aged drunk and straightened him out, a creditable feat for a spouse but a disaster for the country.

But the chances of learning that from her are about the same as getting a primal scream from Hillary Clinton over living with a skirt-chasing jerk before and after moving to Washington.

Read the rest of this entry.

4 Responses to “Lowballing Bush Memoirs”

1. D. E.Rodriguez says:

   December 29, 2008 at 9:40 pm

   Robert:

   I really liked the following observation from your blog:

   “Somewhere in the future, the outgoing President will no doubt pocket umpteen millions from his publicist Rupert Murdoch for a work of fiction about the Bush years.”

   It will truly be a work of pulp fiction.
2. kritt11 says:

   December 30, 2008 at 12:06 am

   And I really liked this part:

   ” If it were, what we would most want to hear from Laura Bush is not about the White House years, but how she married a middle-aged drunk and straightened him out, a creditable feat for a spouse but a disaster for the country.”

   I never thought about it before- but you are right , that would make fascinating reading. I seem to remember that he straightened out after she threatened to leave him. She is a much more thoughtful, higher quality individual than he is.
3. Don Quijote says:

   December 30, 2008 at 8:19 am

   She is a much more thoughtful, higher quality individual than he is.

   That isn't saying much.
4. kritt11 says:

   December 30, 2008 at 8:40 am

   That's for sure!!! I wouldn't give a plugged nickel to read his!!