Bush Salts His Summer with Eclectic Reading List (Laughable Authorial Dig at Bush)

Newsday.com ^ | August 16, 2005 | Warren Vieth

[GretchenM]

Bush tackles historical sagas on vacation

CRAWFORD, Texas — Gas prices are climbing, motorists are fuming, President Bush is vacationing with a book about the history of salt. There may be a connection.

Bush is reading "Salt: A World History" by Kurlansky, chronicling the rise and fall of the world's [formerly] most strategic commodity.

The other books are "Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar" by Radzinsky and "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History" by Barry.

The analogies between salt and oil are striking. For most of history, salt was synonymous with wealth. It established trade routes and cities. Governments taxed it. Nations went to war over it.

In the early 20th century, salt became ubiquitous. Refrigeration reduced its value and advances revealed its global abundance.

"It seems very silly now, all of the struggles for salt," Kurlansky said. "It's quite probable that some day, people will read about our struggles for oil and have the same reaction."

Kurlansky said he was surprised to hear that Bush reads books. The author said he was a "virulent Bush opponent" who had given speeches denouncing the war in Iraq.

Barry, author of "The Great Influenza," said that he too had been a Bush critic. But his views have not deterred the administration from seeking his advice on the potential for another pandemic like the 1918 outbreak that claimed millions of lives worldwide.

The administration, Barry said, was investigating what steps public officials could take to lessen the severity of a flu pandemic. "One lesson is to take it seriously," Barry said. "… I think they are doing that. The Clinton administration I don't think paid much attention to it as a threat."

[Sonny M]

I found it ammusing because it was one of those off the cuff answers that you rarely see from someone like a Rove or Bush.

But I got a kick out of Rove calling Bush cheap(something I remember him saying about Bush another time on something else that was small....music CDs I think).

Could be that Rove loses things, so who knows.

[warchild9]

While I know it's required procedure on FR to blame everything on "liberals/MSM/Clinton/unions/whatever," let's just skip the high school clichees and say the writer has an ideological axe to grind.

Most people, when they see one of those clichees pop up on a thread, automatically move on to another.

[Mercat]

That's true. One of my favorite authors is Simon Winchester who reads his own books. My favorite way to read now is to listen to audio books while I walk or do housework. But once in a while something slips and I know he's a euroweenie socialist wacko but then fortunately, he returns to recounting obscure history of Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. So far I've read/listened to Krakatoa, The Meaning of Everything (about the OED) and now The Map that Changed the World about the father of the science of geology, William Smith. All fascinating obscure history. I also have read
Isaac Newton, James Gleick
Unabridged, Audio CD
Publication Date: May 2003

[the invisib1e hand]

salt - i wanna read it.

[warchild9]

Salt's available at any bookstore or library. It's very cool.

[the invisib1e hand]

i'm finishing up "coffee." I guess I should also get around to creme, sugar, and ceramics.

[warchild9]

Actually, there was a book about sugar published back in the 70's. I can't remember the title, but it, too, was a history book of the "new" school.