June 21-26 – We stopped into a little book party at the Metropolitan Museum. Some first-time author named Bill Clinton. Apparently his wife, Hillary, is a politician, and the book is called My Life. Some of our more bookish readers may have heard about this. Tweedy literary types like Walter Mosley, Gay Talese, Toni Morrison and Fran Lebowitz Lebowitz stood around sipping champagne. Also at the small, intimate party of 1,000 were scattered politicians and media types like Larry King, Charlie Rose and Barbara Walters. The author made a short speech, and was very well spoken for a writer.

Seems like a big promotional budget for a first-time author, but it must be working because thousands of people have been turning up at bookstores to meet this Clinton guy. Oh, and they buy the book, too. Midtown Manhattan traffic came to a halt and lines snaked around Rockefeller Center at a Barnes & Noble signing. You’d think people have other things to do, but later that same day, uptown at a Harlem bookstore, the same thing happened – more people wanted his signature than he had time for. The next morning stock trading practically stopped when everybody ran over to a Wall Street bookshop. Next thing we know, our L.A. contingent heard about 4,000 people waiting outside a bookstore, hoping for one of only 1500 books scheduled to be signed.
We predict this Clinton fellow will go far.

With Jen Lowery in Los Angeles