Clinton + Spotlight = Watch Out!

From Blogcritics, where I am a contributor, comes a pointed look at the upcoming Bill Clinton ass-covering, self-blow-job, historical rewrite, via Yahoo News.

Bill Clinton, once a president and now an author, offered a characteristic performance Thursday night for the country's publishing community: late, long, but ultimately satisfying to the crowd.

The keynote speaker at BookExpo America, publishing's annual national convention, Clinton was here to promote his memoir, "My Life," which comes out June 22 with a first printing of 1.5 million.

It was not the most efficient of promotional events. Clinton began 30 minutes behind schedule and spoke for 45 minutes, 25 minutes longer than expected. But he left to the same noisy approval as when he arrived ? a standing ovation. And he showed the knack for summing up a 950-page book in a couple of sentences.

"When I was a young man, getting out of law school, I said one of the goals I had in life was to write a great book," he explained. "I have no earthly idea if it's a great book. But it's a pretty good story."

Clinton's speech, covering everything from 18th century politics to 21st century genetics, mirrored what he said the memoir itself would comprise: personal memories, general history, political analysis.

Some people think Clinton's just spotlight grabbing from Kerry and the Democratic convention. I think there's a measure of truth in that, but I also think the Dems understand that their convention is liable to be a dullfest with only minimal coverage by the networks. Having Clinton around promises to up the news-story quotient and starpower. It's not that he'll steal Kerry's spotlight as that he'll give the underwhelming Kerry some much needed shine.