Tom Wolfe will help you get your ZZZ’s
http://www.iht.com/bin/pr…ews/letter.html
Speaking of Tom Wolfe’s I am Charlotte Simmons, the President recently said,
“I’m reading, I think on a good night, maybe 20 to 30 pages,” the president told Brian Lamb of C-Span in an interview at the White House last month. “I’m exercising quite hard these days, and I get up very early, and so the book has become somewhat of a sedative. I mean, maybe there are some other old guys like me who get into bed, open the book, 20 pages later you’re out cold.”
I’m a slow reader, too, so I am not free to criticize that point. 20 or 30 pages a night is a decent pace for me. Wolfe voted for Bush, however, and he must feel some concern that the President apparently uses his book as a sedative.
On the other hand, it’s worthy of note that Bush has apparently read all Wolfe’s works. This stands in pretty sharp contrast to the impression I’ve had of him as a non-reader. I’ve only read The Bonfire of the Vanities, and I read that long ago, in High School shortly after the film was released.
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I wonder if Mrs. Bush picks the books out for him. After all, she used to be a librarian and is known to be a well read woman.
Comment by Brandi — Monday, 16 May 2005 @ 10:54 pm
Typically, a President’s published reading habits are confined to non-fiction. It comforts the ignorant masses to think their President is reading a biography of Alexander Hamilton rather than a “beer and sex-soaked” novel by Tom Wolfe. In this case, I think the President reads Wolfe because his father supposedly reads Wolfe. There is also the added fact that Wolfe votes Republican and is to some extent a patrician. I’m not saying the President chooses his fiction along partisan lines, but maybe Wolfe’s loyalty is a factor. Loyalty is highly prized by Bush.
Comment by Matthew — Tuesday, 17 May 2005 @ 6:50 am
I can’t help but feel that having been a frat boy, he might also just like the book.
dlw
Comment by dlw — Wednesday, 18 May 2005 @ 3:52 pm
You’re probably right, David. I hope the Prez doesn’t identify too much with the frat boys, however. Apparently one of them deflowers the title character while she is drunk in a chapter-long sex scene.
Comment by Matthew — Wednesday, 18 May 2005 @ 4:16 pm