Postscripts

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The Hatfield Hall of Mirrors

Perhaps we do get the biographers we deserve, but then nobody deserves the hall of mirrors that arrived in the form of Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President by J.H. Hatfield. The latest entry in the bio debacle is the abrupt resignation of St. Martin's editor-in-chief Bob Wallace. As reported on October 26 by PW Daily (which titled its article about the resignation "Bush Whacked: Wallace Steps Down From St. Martin's"), Wallace made clear in his statement of resignation that he did not oversee the editing of the book because it was acquired by Thomas Dunne Books, an independent imprint of St. Martin's. Of Wallace, PW Daily writes, tellingly, "[Wallace] hasn't been associated with any particular house bestseller during his tenure and has been rumored to have been unhappy for some time. Some publishing insiders, who noted that the St. Martin's editor is involved in all St. Martin's books, speculated that his resignation gives him the moral high ground. Wallace could not be reached for further comment." Laura Tucker, the agent for the book, tells PW Daily that the book's vetting process was "one of the most rigorous she experienced" but acknowledged that vetting can still require a certain amount of trust. In other words, St. Martin's accepted the three unnamed sources in Hatfield's "Afterword" that he uses to put forward the claim that Bush was arrested in 1972 for cocaine possession and that he then used family connections to clear his record.

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Hefty Prize

Create the nation's best display of Knopf titles and you win ... Nathan Englander (For the Relief of Unbearable Urges)! This summer, BookPeople participated in Random House's third annual nationwide contest among bookstores for the best display of Knopf's summer titles (Knopf is a division of Random House). In this case, Englander's visit is a continuation of an engagement with the Jewish Community Center's 16th Annual Jewish Book Fair on Monday, November 22 at 7:30pm at Congregation Beth Israel (3901 Shoal Creek Blvd.), tickets $6 at the door. The following evening at 7pm, Englander will be at BookPeople.

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TBF Authors Party

The Texas Book Festival is coming up next weekend, November 6-7, at the Texas Capitol. TBF organizers are throwing an Authors Party on Saturday, November 6, 7-10:30pm at the Austin Music Hall. Hot Club of Cowtown will be performing and lots of the more than 145 Texas Book Festival authors will be in attendance, including some who don't have readings scheduled until Sunday (Scott Turow, hint, hint). Tickets are $35 and benefit Texas libraries.

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Nice Work ...

Usually, by dint of sheer musclepower, I cart the books we receive for review from the front desk back to my office and unload them. But it's that time of the year when I have to get out the wheelbarrow I keep around to transport all the gargantuan coffeetable books that seem to be coming in at a dizzying pace. That's right -- it's October and Christmas is here! Avedon: The Sixties, Women by Annie Leibovitz (text by Susan Sontag), Keepers of the Kingdom: The Ancient Offices of Britain, and Your Action World: Winners Are Losers With a New Attitude, David Byrne's skewering of corporate language and self-help blather, are the real standouts.