George W. Bush’s memoir about his presidency, Decision Points, is
due out in November, reports the Associated Press. No word as yet on whether it
will be a picture book, a pop-up book, or perhaps, if a good ghostwriter was hired,
a chapter book.
You remember Bush, right? Former POTUS? Led the Free World in an invasion of Iraq
that unseated Saddam Hussein, ended terrorism and brought peace and democracy to
the Middle East? Oversaw an unprecedented period of domestic prosperity and full
employment? Defended civil liberties, protected the environment?
No? Oh, wait, that was in Opposite Land. Here in this space-time continuum, Bush
was best known for his wisdom. A few examples:
“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning.” “I’ve
abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.” “I’ll
be gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval
Office.” “You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass
a literacy test.” “They misunderstimated me.”
If you need a nudge to remember much about George W. Bush, it’s not merely
post-traumatic shock. Bush has been virtually invisible since he turned the White
House over to some other guy in January, 2008. Unlike Bill Clinton, who cashed in
with a busy slate of $100,000 speeches, or Jimmy Carter, who goes around, lips
pursed, doing good works, Bush has disappeared from view.
Instead, the former president has been busy every day writing, said his publisher,
Crown, in a press release. Decision Points will not be a “traditional”
memoir, but an account of key decisions in his life. Crown promises “gripping,
never-before-heard detail” on personal and presidential matters: his decision
to stop drinking, his relationship with his father, his response to the 9-11 terror
attacks.
Aw, isn’t he cute? Can’t you just picture Bush sitting at his desk down
in Texas, tongue protruding, brow furrowed, as he bears down with a crayon?
Oh, sure, there’s been an effort the last few years, led mainly by Karl “Bush’s
Brain” Rove to depict the former president as a literate man, an avid reader
even.
At the end of 2008, Rove wrote in the
Wall Street Journal
of his annual reading contest with his former boss, which began in 2006. That first
year Rove won by a count of 110 books to Bush’s 95. In 2007, Rove won again,
76 to 51. Bush made a poorer showing in 2008, with only 40 books—although
for most Americans that would be an impressive total.
“Mr. Bush loves books,” Rove writes, “learns from them, and is
intellectually engaged by them.”
And what were some of the books Rove says Bush read? Albert Camus’ The Stranger,
David Halberstam’s The Coldest Winter, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s
Team of Rivals, and Jacobo Timerman’s Prisoner Without a Name, Cell
Without a Number.
Not that I would doubt the word of Karl Rove, who, after all, established a reputation
for decency, honesty and fair play (in Opposite Land!) while guiding Bush to the
White House, but his testimony does fly somewhat in the face of earlier accounts
of the former president’s reading tastes.
According to a
story widely reported as late as 2005, Bush declared his favorite book was
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. Here’s one sample, a
2001 St. Petersburg Times
story by Bill Duryea, that theorizes Bush is stuck at an, ahem, early stage
of development.
Meanwhile, Decision Points hits bookstores Nov. 9 at a price of $35.
Bush will promote the book with a nationwide tour. Do you or anyone you know plan
to read this book? I, for one, cannot wait.
In Opposite Land.
—From
Open Page (26 April 2010)