That damn liberal media.


You would think a close examination of Bush's behavior under duress is a relevant topic in this media moment. But Miller couldn't get a review to save his life for the hardcover edition, except for a pan in the Washington Post and a brief positive mention in the New Yorker. And now that the paperback is out, with an added 100 pages evaluating Bush's behavior post-9/11, things are even worse.


Miller is unsurprised by reviewer hostility, but says he "is more mystified" by the ongoing press blackout and virtual bookstore boycott of the paperback. Miller observes that while Bush's numbers are falling and the post-9/11 fit of anxious national conformity is long behind us, the edifice of corporate media and bookstore chains remains a giant temple of Bush-worship.


According to Miller, his publisher W.W. Norton's contact at Barnes & Noble told the publisher that a book signing for him "wouldn't draw a crowd -- this despite the fact that the paperback is selling like crazy. Norton sold out its first printing three weeks before the publication date. That's unusual for an unadvertised title, to put it mildly."