Monday, January 8, 2018

Will anyone really read Fire and Fury?

I recall back some nearly two decades ago when Monica Lewinsky (as in the presidential intern) felt compelled to write a memoir of her experience, recalling how then-President Bill Clinton took advantage of her sexually.

Plummeted down the charts quickly
“Monica’s Story” went into detail about the man she later publicly called the “big creep.” It jumped immediately to the top spot on the “best seller’s” list of books.

BUT WHAT I recall is that the book released in March of 1999 quickly plummeted. It’s as though anybody who felt compelled to read it rushed out to buy a copy. I remember buying my copy of the book in a bookstore remainder bin about one month after it was released.

I think I paid $1.99 for it. I can’t remember the last time I saw a book plummet so promptly to the discount bin in a bookstore.

Quite a bargain, for that time. Although nowadays, someone going on Amazon.com can buy a used hardcover copy for $0.25. A brand-new paperback copy could be ordered as cheaply as $1.34.

What makes me remember this? It’s all the hoo-hah we’re getting over “Fire and Fury,” the recently-released book about the presidency thus far of Donald J. Trump.

THE ONE WHERE former strategist Steve Bannon questions the patriotism of Trump’s namesake son and also the intelligence level of the president himself.

Will Trump drop as quickly?
The one that has caused Trump to publicly announce that he’s “really smart” and “a stable genius.” Which is really pathetic to think our society is at a point where many of us seriously question the premise of such statements.

The one that also has Bannon himself now making statements to try to imply that regardless of what he actually said, he still has respect for Trump and his presidency. And Trump insisting that such a book is all the more evidence of the need for more stringent libel laws in this country – which is a very un-American concept, if you think about it.

The new Trump book is already being billed as a “best seller” by Amazon.com – marked down to $18 from its $30 cover price. But I question how quickly it will plummet in price to something along the lines of the Lewinsky book.

It's a wonder this children's book hasn't done better
I WONDER IF this will be one of those books most of us hear about, but never manage to find an excuse to buy – or even borrow.

Some of it will be the influence of the Trump-ites of society who will not want to believe anything that would indicate they cast ballots for a complete incompetent to be president back in 2016. But many of them don’t read much anyway – which is why they dismiss reports about how little the president himself has faith in the written word.

As for the majority of us, I’m sure we’ve already reached the conclusion that Trump is living proof that formal education (he constantly boasts of being schooled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business) isn’t a guarantee of intelligence.

How many of us want to spend our hard-earned money on a book that merely confirms what we already know, and what we have seen several bits of evidence already.

OUR PRESIDENT IS a dolt. What we need to do is move on to figure out how to cope with the situation, rather than emphasize the man’s lack of intellectual curiosity about anything.

Working my way through this lengthy bio
For most of us, it’s going to mean having to accept the situation and learn from it come the elections to be held this year and in 2020.

I know I personally don’t feel compelled to buy this book – and yes, I do see the irony of writing some nearly 700 words about something I have no intention of ever reading. Let alone buying (Ms. Lewinsky was my sucker book purchase in life).

Which may be the biggest blow to the Trump ego – as much as he complains about the content of this book, he probably relishes in the idea that somebody thought his life was interesting enough to write about. And probably resents all the thousands of books (some 6,924, according to Amazon.com) that were written about Barack Obama.

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