Extra info in Clinton's book
2005-05-20 12:58
New York - In the paperback edition of My Life former United States President Bill Clinton acknowledges his memoir may have been too long, recounts some friendly faces from his book tour and some odder ones sighted under the influence of anaesthesia as he underwent heart surgery last September.
"At first I saw a series of dark faces, like death masks, flying toward me and being crushed," writes Clinton, whose book comes out on May 31 in both trade and mass market paperback. "Then I saw circles of light with the faces of Hillary, Chelsea, and others I cared about flying toward me, then away into a bright, sun-like source."
When Clinton regained consciousness after surgery, he "waved to people, said I was all right, and laughed". At least, that's what his wife, senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, told him. The former president himself doesn't remember.
Paperback has some new material
My Life has sold just under 2.2 million copies in its 957-page hardcover edition, and interest apparently is strong for the paperback. The trade paperback, which has the same dimensions as hardcover, will have a first printing of 300 000 — 50 000 copies more than originally announced. The mass market paperback, a cheaper, pocket-sized edition, will have two volumes, the first with a printing of 600 000, the second in late June at 575 000.
Much of the new material — a 12-page afterword, and a brief preface — summarises Clinton's recent activities, from the building of his presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas, to raising money for tsunami victims. He also offers a quick analysis of last year's presidential election, urging fellow Democrats not to move "hard to the left".
'Pressure' from his wife
Clinton acknowledges complaints about the book's length and names a possible culprit, his wife. He calls the senator's memoirs, Living History, a "fine book" (he has called his own book "pretty good") and says that her success "added to the pressure" for him to meet a June 2004 deadline.
"Most people thought it was too long —a fair criticism. Thomas Jefferson once said if he had had more time he could have written shorter letters," writes Clinton, whose afterword helps make the trade paperback even longer, 969 pages.
Many reviewers were bored by "My Life". The Associated Press likening it to being trapped "in a small room with a very gregarious man who insists on reading his entire appointment book, day by day, beginning in 1946".
He remembers a better reception on his promotional tour, such as the young readers who thought the book would "offer guidance about how they, too, could live their dreams".
"I can't change the length, but I hope the paperback edition, in reducing the weight and cost, will make My Life accessible to a new round of readers."
- AP