Posted on 08/23/2004 10:19:21 PM PDT by ambrose
Barnes & Noble: Anti-Kerry Book in Demand
Tuesday August 24, 2004 6:01 AM
AP Photo WX105
NEW YORK (AP) - Barnes & Noble Inc. said Monday it has been pinched by strong demand for a new book that questions the Vietnam-era actions of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
The nation's largest book store chain also said Republican and Democratic critics have lodged thousands of complaints accusing it of both favoring and suppressing ``Unfit for Command,'' which accuses the Massachusetts senator of distorting his military record.
The book, which went on sale Aug. 11, has already sold out and is not available, Barnes & Noble said.
Its publisher, Regnery Publishing Inc., won't have more books available until later this week, and that order also will not be able to meet demand, Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio said in a release.
Riggio said Barnes & Noble has no political agenda.
``The fact is Regnery has not been able to keep up with customer demand for this title,'' he said. ``Further, the publisher cut our original order for the book in half. We've been put in the difficult position of having to defend ourselves over a title we can't seem to get enough copies of from the publisher.''
Washington-based Regnery, which also publishes conservative commentators including Steve Forbes, Patrick Buchanan and G. Gordon Liddy, did not return a call for comment late Monday.
``Unfit for Command,'' by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi, accuses the Democratic presidential nominee of lying about his decorated wartime record and betraying comrades by returning from Vietnam and alleging widespread atrocities by U.S. troops.
The book claims Kerry earned his Silver Star not in a barrage of enemy fire, but rather by killing a fleeing Viet Cong teenager. It also questions the three Purple Hearts that Kerry earned, saying that none was for serious injuries and two wounds were self-inflicted. The same charges have been leveled in television ads by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, of which O'Neill is a member.
According to medical records from his naval service, Kerry still has shrapnel in his thigh from a war injury.
Several of Kerry's fellow servicemen have attacked the book as inaccurate and politically motivated to help President Bush's campaign.
The problem isn't B&N's corporate policy, the problem is with certain individual bookstore managers who let their politics dictate how they place books in the store, and how certain customers are treated who ask for political books.
I called a few B&N here in the Portland area one of them they have a 100+ waiting list
After being barraged with that info when Bill and Hill's books came out, the ommission seems a little odd.
The publisher anticipated Billary's book selling well and published an avalance of them. Willie's book is stacked up a mile high at the Borders I was at today.
Regenry didn't anticipate Unfit doing as well as it is.
Woo hoo! Its already #1 and its still NOT in the bookstores! This book has already found a very large reading audience. Poor Kerry's toast.
Yeah, conservative books outsell liberal ones. The publishing world, dominated by liberals, doesn't get it.
AP doesn't bother to mention that Regnery also published a book by Kerry himself.
Liberals complain they carry the book; Conservatives complain because they hide it under old copies the Utne Reader.
Who cares what the libs complain about.
I stopped in a Borders this afternoon. I hadn't even gotten the words out of my mouth when she knew what I was asking about. The lady said the Phoenix area was due to get a shipment this week.
How is Amazon able to get an adequate supply?
I don't think they're getting a particularly large shipment either, given that the Amazon page currently says "Usually ships in 5 to 7 weeks" ;)
Regenery has offered to republish Kerry's first book written in the 70's. I think the name is "A New Soldier" but he has declined. The book is out-of-print. On ebay it's going for as much as $1000.
I just ordered this on B&N tonight and my shipping status shows "packed" and should ship out tomorrow.
I received my two copies today. Yippie! Ordered from Amazon on the 14th, and they shipped the 16th. I may still go down to the local Borders and ask for a copy, just for kicks :)
Just got my copy from Amazon today.
havent checked, but everything else that seems to be hard to get is stacked up in rows of 1,000 when I go to costco... harry potter, dr phil, books,dvd, video games whatever.
Well, doesn't that add up to one copy for every registered Republican in Portland? Just kidding, but well, Portland is to Liberal America what Isengaard was to Middle Eath...
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