NEW YORK: While President George W. Bush battles it out in the presidential campaign against Democratic challenger John Kerry, Bush allies and critics are fighting to top best-seller lists in a crowded field of books on the Republican president's administration.
Book store windows are stacked with political books, while a search of "George W. Bush" on a computer at Borders, a major US book store chain, shows 175 entries - although many of them are updated editions of previously published books. Bush, a Republican, will face Kerry in the November 2 election.
"We've seen typically during an election year an increase in titles that deal with the current administration ... from both sides of (the) political debate," Borders spokeswoman Jenie Dahlmann said.
Most recently, Bush's former counter-terrorism expert, Richard Clarke, released "Against All Enemies," a book that criticizes Bush's handling of the war on terrorism.
The book turned into a bestseller, with 550,000 copies sold and six editions in print. It topped the Internet book giant Amazon.com's bestseller list on Friday, a little more than two weeks after its release. "Right now there are some incredibly popular books out, particularly ... Richard Clarke's book," Dahlmann said.
The press coverage of Clarke's explosive book and his testimony before the independent commission investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks have created an "increased awareness of the various titles about the Bush administration," she added.
There are the not-so-friendly titles, such as Clint Willis' "I Hate George W. Bush Reader: Why Dubya is Wrong about Absolutely Everything," or David Corn's "Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception."
And there are the very friendly titles, such as Dan Cashman and former White House speech writer David Frum's "The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush - An Inside Account," or the insider account, "Ten Minutes to Normal," by Karen Hughes, a Bush advisor. -AFP
