Book Reviewers Tout Kelley Screed, Ignore 'Unfit for Command'
Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004 9:39 a.m. EDT
The book that turned the 2004 presidential race on its head - "Unfit for Command," by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi - has yet to be formally reviewed by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and most other mainstream U.S. newspapers, despite sitting atop the New York Times best seller list now for four weeks in a row.
Next week "Unfit's" reign at the top ends, at least in the New York paper, with Kitty Kelley's book on the Bush family "dynasty" supplanting it in the number one spot.
But while the O'Neill-Corsi book was clearly a grass roots hit, Kelley's screed has been propelled to the top by an intense media campaign that has kept her book in the public eye.
While mainstream book reviewers couldn't find the time to review the most significant political book of the season, the anti-Bush tome (Kelley's book) - chock full of discredited allegations and debunked claims - has received virtual wall-to-wall coverage.
The old media's coverage includes reviews by the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and dozens of other venues. Book reviewers at New York Times and the Washington Post both weighed in on Kelley's opus on Sept. 14.
Not to mention three days worth of consecutive Kelley guest shots on NBC's "Today Show" - which all but guaranteed hundreds of thousands of book sales. Needless to say, O'Neill and Corsi are still waiting for their invitation from Katie and Matt.
On the dearth of mainstream coverage for "Unfit," one publishing insider complained to NewsMax, "I'm not aware of any mainstream review. It's like the book hasn't been published."
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