Bookmarks

A few odds and ends while the coffee takes hold:

• Speaking of celebrity book deals, Dick Cheney is shopping a Bush White House memoir (not surprising). What is surprising is that someone leaked the news that he wants at least $2 million for it, which suggests he's willing to take less than what Sarah Palin reportedly got for her HarperCollins deal (current estimates: $7-$11 million, not including what they're paying her co-author). On the other hand, Lynne Cheney's publishing experience should be a real help if he's planning to write about the last 8 years as a racy lesbian escapade.

• Eat food, not too much soft serve, mostly plants: After initially dropping it due to the economy or agricultural pressures, Washington State University (alma mater of my uncle) will once again be requiring its freshmen to read Michael Pollan's THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA for the fall, and thanks to a generous donation will get to hear Michael Pollan speak when they arrive. We didn't have a "common reading" book my freshman year, although one year when I was a peer adviser my charges were assigned to read John Edgar Wideman's PHILADELPHIA FIRE. I don't think any of them did and we never talked about it. Sorry, Mr. Wideman.

• It's great that we have this juicy yet official biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez for the record on the Colombian magical-realist author, but still I must protest: where is the other two-thirds of his memoir? First volume LIVE TO TELL THE TALE (VIVIR PARA CONTARLA) only covers his life through around age 18. I'd rather read that book than "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget Condi. And most of all, I will never forget that one night. Working late on the yellowcake memos. Just the two of us..."