George Bush "Borrowed"

From Other Books for Memoirs

Former US president's Decision Points contains anecdotes seemingly lifted from books by several authors

It appears that Decision Points is not so much the former president's memoirs as other people's cut and pasted memories.  Bush's account is littered with anecdotes seemingly ripped off from other books and articles, even borrowing without attribution – some might say plagiarizing – from critical accounts the White House had previously denounced as inaccurate.

The Huffington Post noted a remarkable similarity between previously published writings and Bush's colourful anecdotes from events at which he had not been present.

Bush borrows heavily from Bob Woodward's account Bush at War, which the White House criticised as inaccurate when it was published in 2002. He also appears to take chunks from a book written by his former press secretary Ari Fleischer.

Bush recounts a meeting between Hamid Karzai and a Tajik warlord on the Afghan president's inauguration day, which he used as an example of hope for the future of the country.

The former president writes: "When Karzai arrived in Kabul for his inauguration on 22 December – 102 days after 9/11 – several Northern Alliance leaders and their bodyguards greeted him at an airport.

"As Karzai walked across the tarmac alone, a stunned Tajik warlord asked where all his men were.

"Karzai responded: 'Why, General, you are my men. All of you who are Afghans are my men.'"

The Huffington Post notes that the account and the quote are lifted almost verbatim and without attribution from a New York Review of Books article by Ahmed Rashid.

Bush also lifts a quote from an interview John McCain gave to the Washington Post on Iraq and then presents it as though McCain had said it to him.

Even where Bush is present and is quoting himself, he appears to have had his memory jogged by the accounts of others without finding much to add.

Many of the borrowed lines are taken from Woodward's Bush at War, with the former president's accounts of meetings bearing a striking similarity to Woodward's.

Bush's publisher has suggested that only confirms the accuracy of Decision Points. Others have suggested it is a reflection of two traits the former president was often criticised for – lack of original thought and laziness.

Bush also quotes Woodward's writings almost word for word in places. Where Woodward writes: "The second option combined cruise missiles with manned bomber attacks," Bush says: "The second option was to combine cruise missile strikes with manned bomber attacks."

And where Woodward's book says: "The third and most robust option was cruise missiles, bombers and what the planners had taken to calling 'boots on the ground'," Bush says: "The third and most aggressive option was to employ cruise missiles, bombers and boots on the ground."

Bush manages to remember exactly the same shouts as Woodward from the crowd at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks – "Do not let me down!" and "Whatever it takes" – even though there must have been a slew of them.

He appears to have borrowed from the memoirs of Fleischer in relating an anecdote about a hospital visit to meet injured survivors of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

Guardian

Palin Book

Leaked

Well, look what popped up five days early: leaks from Sarah Palin's forthcoming memoir/manifesto, America By Heart, in which the reality TV matriarch rants against "talent deprived" reality TV stars, lauds daughter Bristol's chastity, and celebrates not aborting Trig.

Our favorite Wasilla-obsessed blog Palingates was the first to post excerpts from America By Heart. The book is currently in distribution centers, awaiting its official release on Tuesday. We got our hands on some of the pages, too! Here's an annotated guide to our favorite parts, featuring rants against the media and new material about Bristol and Levi.

The book broke early, on

the Internet

The book is dedicated to Trig, and opens with a Tea Party "awakening":

Gawker.com

But Palin Leak

Didn't Help

by Paul Fahri

Sarah Palin's magic touch might be fading a bit. Although several of her recent projects have been successful, Palin's latest book isn't one of them.

"America by Heart," Palin's new memoir, has logged disappointing receipts since it officially went on sale late last month, publishing sources say. Although the book is second on the New York Times bestseller list this week (behind former president George W. Bush's memoir, "Decision Points"), its publisher, HarperCollins, hasn't ordered a second printing - a sign that sales haven't been overly brisk.

By contrast, Palin's first book, "Going Rogue," became the second-fastest-selling political book in history upon its release last year, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks industry sales. It went into a second printing three days after its release and went on to sell 2.2 million copies in hardcover, according to the publisher.

"America by Heart" (subtitle: "Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag") got a more modest launch. HarperCollins's initial press run was 1 million copies, suggesting that the publisher recognized that "Heart" was not likely to repeat the success of "Rogue."

Officially, at least, HarperCollins says it is pleased with the sales of the second book. "We're happy with how it's selling and expect to see it do well in the holiday season," said Tina Andreadis, a spokeswoman for the imprint, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

In 2009, Palin spent six weeks on the road promoting "Going Rogue," hitting 33 states. In recent weeks, her "America by Heart" tour was more modest - 16 states in 10 days.

One theory within the publishing industry is that Palin is overexposed, at least in terms of drawing readers.

Palin's first book, published only a year ago, sold well enough to sate Palin's supporters, her enemies and the merely curious. It was such a strong seller in hardcover that it crowded out demand for the book in paperback and for the sequel of sorts, some in the industry say. The paperback version of "Going Rogue" has not made the bestseller lists or gone into reprint since it was issued with a new afterword by Palin in August.

The former Alaska governor and her family have been the stars of an eight-part reality series/travelogue, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," which scored record ratings for a new program on Silver Spring's TLC network in its debut Nov. 14. The program's ratings subsequently dipped.

Meanwhile, Palin's daughter Bristol was a recent finalist on the ABC show "Dancing With the Stars," turning the dance competition into a kind of proxy political event. Despite tepid reviews from the show's judges, Palin stayed alive on the program, buoyed by a wave of support from audience votes.

Sarah Palin has also stayed in the news with her frequent and combative postings on Facebook and on Twitter, where she has more than 325,000 followers.

Washington Post

HarperCollins Closes

eBook Store

As of Friday, November 19, HarperCollins closed its e-bookstore.  The store, located at www.harpercollinsebooks.com, sold downloadable e-books and audiobooks from HarperCollins and its imprints.  Harper is giving customers one month–until December 19, 2010–to download and archive any content they have purchased from the site, after which time it will no longer be available. 

Did you even know HarperCollins had its own e-book store?  If not, that could be part of the reason it’s closed.

Kids Books Big

In Seattle

The Seattle Times runs best-seller lists on their Sunday books page every week; one national list, another from a selected local bookstore, which got book editor Mary Ann Gwinn wondering: What are the ten best read books?

To mark the winding down of 2010, she asked the Seattle Public Library to come up with the most checked-out books of 2010.  Here they are, in order, as of the end of November:

1. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. This 2009 novel, about three ordinary women (two black, one white) whose lives converge and collide in 1960s Mississippi, has become a national best-selling sensation. Seattle readers agree.

2. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. Part I in the late Swedish author's trilogy, in which anti-social computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, whose horrifying upbringing has made her a very tough nut, and crusading Swedish journalist Mikael Blomqvist unite to track down the perpetrator of some gruesome murders.

3. "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Lar

sson. Part II of the trilogy, in which Salander, in hiding from the authorities, nonetheless assists Blomqvist in investigating human trafficking.

4. "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver's 2009 novel tells the story of Harrison Williams Shepherd, a half-Mexican, half-American man who sees the 20th century unfold on both sides of the border. Real-life characters such as artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo figure in a plot rife with politics, history and life lessons.

5. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson. Part III of Larsson's trilogy. Salander and Blomquist unite again to root out systemic corruption, Salander pursuing justice via computer hacking from her hospital bed (if only Larsson were alive to watch the Wiki Leaks story unfold!).

6. "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. The Man Booker prizewinning novel of Henry VIII's earlier years, seen through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief right-hand man.

7. "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. Sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" — the further adventures of Robert Langdon.

8. "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell. The New Yorker writer and pop sociologist/psychologist ponders what makes a successful person. Hard work? Talent? Luck?

9. "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual" by Michael Pollan. Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma," returned with this slim volume about how to eat responsibly.

10. "I Stink!" by Kate McMullan, illustrated by Jim McMullan. For ages 4-8. The story of a rowdy garbage truck with a New York attitude.

Four of the 10 books are children's books, with seven more kiddy selections in the next 10 most read books. 

Bits & Bytes

Thousands More Listings for AmSAW PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS Today

FICTION

Debut

Henriette Lazardis Power's CLEAN MONDAY, pitched in the vein of SARAH'S KEY and THOSE WHO SAVE US, following a young Greek/American woman who travels to Greece during the abandon of Carnival to collect a family inheritance, only to discover her estranged mother's role in the family's misfortune during WW II, to Caitlin Alexander at Ballantine, by Kent Wolf at Global Literary Management (World English).

kent@globallit.com

Andrea Thalasinos's AN ECHO THROUGH THE SNOW, the story of two women who risk everything to rescue huskies from far eastern Siberia, in so doing, one saves a people from Stalin's genocidal purge of the Chukchi; the other, a young American, her own life a world away in Wisconsin; the women's sacrifices to save the dogs, and the dogs' ability in turn to save them, demonstrates the unique bond between human and animal, and the power of love, history and destiny, to Linda Quinton at Forge, with Stephanie Flanders editing, for publication in 2012, by Marlene Stringer at Stringer Literary Agency (World English).

Kristyn Kusek Lewis's THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH, in which the friendship of three women is tested by domestic violence in one of their marriages and a scandal in another, to Emily Griffin at Grand Central, by Katherine Fausset at Curtis Brown (World).

Mystery/Crime

William Kent Krueger's two more books in the NYT bestselling Cork O'Connor crime series and the stand-alone ORDINARY GRACE, a coming-of-age story about a tragedy that strikes a Methodist minister in 1961 and what it does to his faith, his family, and the fabric of the small town in which he lives, told forty years later by the minister's son, to Sarah Branham at Atria, in a significant deal, by Danielle Egan-Miller at Browne & Miller Literary Associates (World).

Film joel@ipglm.com

danielle@browneandmiller.com

Larry Sweazy's THE DEVIL'S BONES, to Five Star, in a nice deal, by Cherry Weiner at Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.

Susan Page Davis's next entry in the Patchwork Mysteries series, to Beth Adams at Guideposts, by Chip MacGregor at MacGregor Literary.

Women's/Romance

RITA award winner Kate Brady's three-book series, determined to free her brother from Death Row, a psychologist confronts a hardnosed sheriff in his peaceful town and does more than unearth the real murderer - she becomes the target of a twisted serial killer known as the Angel-Maker, to Celia Johnson at Grand Central, by Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency (World).

NYT bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries's next two novels to finish out Jeffries' popular "Hellions of Halstead Hall" series, to Micki Nuding at Pocket, in a three-book deal, by Pam Ahearn of Ahearn Agency.

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT and THE SPINSTER SISTERS author Stacey Ballis's BREAD AND BUTTER, about a passionate foodie who runs the business (and life­) of a charismatic and manipulative television chef but who stumbles into her own chance at bliss and must decide whether to leave him to pursue it, pitched as part Julie and Julia, part Eat, Pray, Love, part "Two Weeks Notice," again to Wendy McCurdy at Berkley, by Scott Mendel at the Mendel Media Group (NA). UK, Film & Translation: scott@mendelmedia.com

NONFICTION

Advice/Relationships

Chrisanna Northrup, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, and Dr. James Witte's THE NORMAL BAR: WHERE DOES YOUR RELATIONSHIP FALL?, using an unprecedented statistical database acquired from surveying millions of people worldwide to chart where each of us stands on the scale of normality in every aspect of our relationship - and to show how we can reposition ourselves on that scale if we so choose, to Rick Horgan at Crown, in a significant deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2012, by Helen Zimmermann of the Helen Zimmermann Agency.

lkaplan@randomhouse.com

Pick-up artist Richard La Ruina's THE NATURAL ART OF SEDUCTION, in which the author tells of his self-transformation from a 21-year-old geek -- who had never kissed a girl -- into one of Europe's best known seduction experts, also providing men with a natural, gentle, healthy and realistic approach to meeting and attracting women, to Cynthia DiTiberio at Harper One, by Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (NA).

Biography

Coauthor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning AMERICAN PROMETHEUS Kai Bird's THE GOOD SPY, centering on the career and tragic death of CIA legend Robert Ames, whose passing marked a dramatic shift in foreign policy that still haunts America's relationship with the Muslim world, to Rick Horgan at Crown, in a major deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2013, by Gail Ross of the Ross Yoon Agency.

lkaplan@randomhouse.com.

History/Politics/Current Affairs

Scott Selby's PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES: Operation Nursery and the Nazi Conspiracy to Take Back Germany, the true, untold story of how high-ranking Nazi Artur Axmann, who reported directly to Hitler himself, attempted to bring back the Reich after escaping Hitler's Bunker during the Battle of Berlin, to Natalee Rosenstein at Berkley, in a good deal, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.

Lecturer in early modern history at the University of London, and author of MARY TUDOR: Princess, Bastard, Queen, Anna Whitelock's THE QUEEN'S BED: An Intimate History of Elizabeth I's Bedchamber, a story of sex, gossip, conspiracy and intrigue, exploring for the first time the public and political significance of Elizabeth's private world, as told through the most intimate workings of the the queen's own bedchamber, the ultimate theatre of power, to Sarah Crichton at Sarah Crichton Books, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency on behalf of Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates (NA).

Translation & Film: cc@felicitybryan.com