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Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: Authors Against Obama I call for the formation of Authors Against Obama, a group of professional writers who object to crap like this: Mr. Obamas original plan was to write a book about race relations. But, sitting down to write, he found his mind "pulled toward rockier shores." So the book became more personal the record of an interior journey, as he put it in the introduction, "a boy's search for his father, and through that a search for a workable meaning for his life as a black American." A 28-year-old law student gets written up in the newspapers, then gets a call from a literary agent? She calls him? The agent then signs this 28-year-old nobody -- whose only credential as an author is student law journal stuff -- with Simon & Schuster. Hello? In what alternative universe does this happen? He misses his deadline, but that's OK, because he then gets another big contract with a $40,000 advance. At this point, Obama's story is reminding me of another popular book, The Peter Principle. But the real killer is how, having gotten a contract based on a proposal for a book about race relations, Obama pulls a bait-and-switch, and instead delivers ... a memoir. A memoir! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?? Unless you led the league in RBIs and helped the Yankees win the Series, how the hell does a 28-year-old get away with selling a memoir to a major publisher for $40,000? By what accomplishment does a 28-year-old law student merit readership for a memoir? What can he possibly write that anyone would want to read? Nothing. The book came out in the summer of 1995, shortly before Mr. Obama announced that he was running for the Illinois State Senate. At 57th Street Books, in Mr. Obamas neighborhood in Chicago, a few dozen people turned out for a reading. There were respectful reviews in newspapers including The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Times Books sold 8,000 to 9,000 copies. All right, that's it. Forget about Jeremiah Wright. I don't care about Bill Ayers or Hamas or Obama's health care plans or anything else. When a 28-year-old student gets a $40,000 book contract based on a proposal to write about race relations, then instead turns in a memoir that gets favorably reviewed by The New York Times (!), he has committed an injustice against the profession of letters which no self-respecting author can endorse or condone. Authors Against Obama! Who's with me? UPDATE: I've created a Facebook group. UPDATE II: Welcome, Instapundit readers. I don't know whether the link should be interpreted as an endorsement from Professor Reynolds. Somehow, though, I don't think any major publishers were offering him big bucks for a memoir when he was a second-year law student. UPDATE III: In the comment field, Reliapundit notes his post from June 2005, recounting how Obama broke his contract with his first agent once he hit the big time, reportedly resulting in an out-of-court settlement. This only amplifies my argument that Obama has damaged longstanding traditions in the literary community. Agents usually screw over authors, rather than the other way around. UPDATE IV: Hey, buy a book, OK? David Horowitz called it "irresistible." Posted by
Poster Comment: Raises some questions...$40k advance for the memoirs of a 28-year old? Something is fishy here.
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#1. To: mirage, FOH, FOH, JETHRO TULL (#0)
It's pretty obvious he had some things besides what the author points out: His blackness, and his weak character, both of which could be manipulated in order to groom him for the task ahead..carrying out the will of the those who groomed him. We are dealing with a power-hungry puppet, who knowingly allowed his race to be used in the manner of a cheap whore, and he is nothing more than this/.
#2. To: IndieTX (#1)
Very likely. Something doesn't add up here.
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