Here's an entertaining book I just read: Derision Points: Clown Prince Bush the W: The Real Story of His Decision Points by Ted Cohen.

Two words about the title. First, this book has nothing to do with Bush's book and is not a critique of it. Second, this book is much funnier than the title which was presumably written by a marketer.

This is a based-on-facts fictional account of George W. Bush as a young drunk. Its political utility may be limited given the fact that our presidents seem to obey the same forces whether or not they are dry drunk morons who come from terrible and negligent parents and backgrounds of great privilege.

But the book is pretty amusing on its own, even apart from its connection to our most famous war criminal.

You made my last book, Daybreak, a big success, including by making it #1 in nonfiction books on Amazon.com the day it appeared there.  I hope you'll help do the same with this new book War Is A Lie when Amazon.com posts it.  I'm tentatively hoping to make November 22nd the big day to bump Glenn Beck and George W. Bush off the charts, but I'll let you know and hope you can help by emailing your list.  The book will be available in print, kindle, Ebook, and audio from stores, online sellers, and at http://warisalie.org

A Way for You to Make Money and Advance the Movement

I've turned down three publishers, including the publisher of my last book, in order to publish this year (instead of 2011 or 2012).  This also allows me to make money off the book instead of the publisher making most of it.  So, I'm able to sell the book at close to cost.  This means that peace and justice groups and activists can buy the book at $10 or less, with free shipping, and resell it at events or online for the list price of $20 -- or give it out in front of recruiting stations and invite me to come help you.  You can even start selling it now, before anyone else has it.

The book is available now at half-price for orders of 10 or more at http://warisalie.org

You can also buy holiday presents for all your friends and your congress member to help prevent an attack on Iran, as well as to correct the lies in Bush's new book.  The arguments to refute the case for attacking Iran, not to mention Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and hundreds of other nations, are in this book.

Undoing the Imperial Presidency:
An Interview with David Swanson

By John W. Whitehead
June 24, 2010

Available here.

From Sullivan Street Press

We received lots of responses to our Jobs for Book Lovers

But we are not finished yet. We want to encourage as many as possible to see the value in becoming a Bookie. Selling books in your community is not just a job but a way to keep this very fragile democracy alive. While the right wing tries to dumb everything down, we need to make sure the independent presses and the voices they support are able to survive.

After a couple of weeks of blogging here about our Jobs for Book Lovers, it has come to pass that people are taking us seriously. I am so glad to report that is happening because sometimes when a jobs program is announced that seems so far ahead of the curve, people are either dismissive or suspicious.

But now that some of our favorite authors we carry on the tour, such as Robert Jensen, are lending their voices to help us and with the new addition of David Swanson’s new book “Daybreak” being added to our list, we are just realizing how wonderful it would be to see as many people signing on to become a Bookie as possible.

We offer a fun job talking about books and selling books with each Bookie earning a portion of the sales. We train, we support and we encourage anyone who loves to stand in front of roomful of people to talk about the books that they have discovered and that they feel their communities not only would like but should get to read now. Most of the books we carry do not show up in bookstore chains. Most of the authors we carry are not the top earners for the mass media run empires. Rather they are the true American voices whose ideas, stories and in some cases provocative messages are not the ones that the media want you to hear or to place on your bookshelf.

This is an odd time in all our lives. We are or know so many people who are unemployed or underemployed. We see so much despair around this wonderful time of year because there has been job loss, home loss, morale loss, insurance loss, life loss, and yet, inside a book and inside the rooms where people can gather to discuss books another kind of life can begin to emerge.

This is a part of the new publishing paradigm we want to help foster. Sullivan Street Press may be a new company going out on its own to do these things and discover how to get them done and make a difference. But we are not alone in this venture. All the people whose books we carry are thrilled to be a part of this effort–No this movement. They speak well of us and congratulate us as we report back to them of the comments we receive about their books.

When we meet new friends on the road and give a performance where we talk about how publishing is not just going to change but has already changed and for the better, our new friends are also eager to talk about it, argue with us about it and then come back to do it again when we make a return visit.

So, if this type of experience is of interest to you. If you like to read, to talk about what you read, to meet new people, give readings from the books you carry, and sell them so that we all can help each other then write to us from our contact information on the website.

Keeping small, indie presses alive and well is so important as the Sarah Palins of the world try to feed off the hopes and fears of people who are not able yet to hear what we have to say about the value of books, all books, in a democracy. The obscene amounts of money people like her receive for books that add nothing to the real formation of our democratic structures can only be countered by talking to people about how it is on the other side of the money divide.

If you feel as passionately as we do about this, send us a note with a short resume so we can see what you are going to bring to our wonderful new program and tell us where you live. This is a nationwide effort so we need to make sure we can reach out to all 50 states.

All are welcome so long as they love books, can talk about them and have a car. That is the one requirement we wish we did not have but it is difficult to cart all the books around without one. We await your reply.

By David Swanson

Let's face it, if James Cameron had made a movie with the Iraqi resistance as the heroes and the U.S. military as the enemies, and had set it in Iraq or anywhere else on planet earth, the packed theaters viewing "Avatar" would have been replaced by a screening in a living room for eight people and a dog.

Nineteen years ago, Americans packed theaters for "Dances with Wolves" in which Native Americans became the heroes, but the story was set in a previous century and the message understated.

What a concept! But you really can. Specifically, you can make money selling progressive books: here's how.

Seven Stories Press gives 25% off the titles on its website, and if you enter this code: SSPHOLIDAY09 you can take off a total of 35%.

New this year is fiction from Seba al-Herz, Hwang Sok-yong, Douglas A. Martin, Barry Gifford, Beverly Gologorsky, Nelson Algren, Ralph Nader, and others, as well as updated editions of three Howard Zinn books, the Amazon best-seller Daybreak from David Swanson, What We Leave Behind from Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay, Paranoia & Heartbreak from Jerome Gold, The Black Body from Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, Wojciech Jagielski’s Towers of Stone, John Talbott’s The 86 Biggest Lies on Wall Street, a new edition of Barbara Seaman’s The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed On Women, the new annual collection from Project Censored, and several titles available for the first time in paperback.

Why not use this discount to buy your friends copies of Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union

Offer only good until December 31st.  Go here: http://tr.im/IlGe

C-Span's Book TV, which can be watched on cable television on C-Span 2 or online at http://www.booktv.org plans to air a book event they recorded when I was in Miami, Florida.

Here's more info.

They'd told me they would run about 90 minutes, and so that was -- I think -- about what I did, including opening remarks and questions and answers. But their website says they're showing 1 hr and 7 min, which makes me suspect that they cut something out, most likely some of the Q&A. That's unfortunate.

I expect it to be a good show, in any case, and remember it as a good event. Please tell everyone to watch, record it, spread the word. Thanks!

Here's more about the book: "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union."

A New Day Rising:
An Interview with David Swanson