Wednesday, June 29, 2005 6:44 p.m. EDT
Klein's Hillary Book Hits #2 on NY Times List
Despite a near total embargo by TV networks against his book, Edward Klein's sensational new biography of Hillary Clinton will hit the #2 spot on the New York Times best-seller list.
The Times' non-fiction list, which will debut July 10, indicates the book – "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President" – has generated an avalanche of interest.
The book was released just last week and has already created a storm of controversy throughout the liberal media world.
In an unusual move, Sen. Clinton's staff immediately and publicly condemned the book. Quietly, they also have been contacting television programs to keep Klein off major shows.
So far, the TV censorship effort has worked, with major networks such as Fox, MSNBC, NBC and others canceling scheduled appearances with Klein.
But Sen. Clinton's efforts to stop the book – perhaps the most revealing account of her public and private life ever written – has backfired, if book sales are any indication.
The book has also drawn strong controversy among conservatives. Some, like Washington Times editorial editor Tony Blankley, have strongly endorsed the book, calling it "required reading." Others, such as Peggy Noonan, have panned the book.
But the book's success despite the media blackout is probably due to NewsMax.com's intense coverage of Klein's book and the censorship effort against it. The New York Times, The Associated Press and liberal groups close to the Clinton have credited NewsMax's key role in the book's notoriety and its sales success.
Klein's work has presented a unique problem for Sen. Clinton and her allies, however. Klein himself is no "right winger." As a former top editor at the New York Times, Newsweek and Vanity Fair, he carries impressive liberal media credentials.
Still, several of his allegations against the former first lady and the apparent front-runner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination have so spooked several media outlets they have banned any discussion of the book on top shows.
For example, after Fox News canceled three scheduled appearances with Klein on its top-rated shows*, Fox spokeswoman Irena Briganti claimed to the New York Times that interest in Klein's book at her network had "been tepid at best."
She also said that after Klein's interview on "Hannity & Colmes," the book "dropped off everyone's radar screen."
News of the book hitting the #2 spot on the New York Times list in its first week out, not to mention hitting the #1 spot on Amazon this past week – and the book's intense interest on talk radio and the blogosphere – indicate the book is indeed on the radar screen of America's heartland.
* Of course even banning a liberal media type from Fox News will probably be panned by the FMSM as evidence of their non-liberalism. |
