US Author's Sales Jump After Osama Mentions Book (209,000th to 30th)

[Clara T]

US author's sales jump after Osama mentions book
20 Jan 2006 23:04:15 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - An unexpected endorsement from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of U.S. foreign policy.

William Blum's "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com's sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list.

Bin Laden said al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States but also told Americans, "It is useful for you to read the book 'The Rogue State.'"

"I was quite surprised and even shocked and amused when I found out what he'd said," Blum said on Friday in an interview with Reuters Television in his Washington apartment.

"I was glad. I knew it would help the book's sales and I was not bothered by who it was coming from.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20389182.htm

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1567511945.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower (Paperback)

Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower

by William Blum, author of
Killing Hope:US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2

If you believed that the NATO (read U.S.) bombing of Yugoslavia for
78 days and nights in 1999 was a "humanitarian" act, Rogue
State hopefully can serve as a wake-up call to both your intellect
and your conscience. It is a mini-encyclopedia of the numerous
un-humanitarian acts perpetrated by the United States since the
end of the Second World War.

Never before in modern history has
a country dominated the earth so
totally as the United States does today.
America is now the Schwarzenegger of
international politics: showing off
muscles, obtrusive, intimidating.
The Americans, in the absence of
limits put to them by anybody or anything,
act as if they own a kind of blank check
in their McWorld.
Der Spiegel, Germany's leading newsmagazine, 1997

The United States is good.
We try to do our best everywhere.
Madeleine Albright, 1999


A world once divided into two armed camps
now recognizes one sole and pre-eminent
power, the United States of America. And
they regard this with no dread. For the
world trusts us with power, and the world
is right. They trust us to be fair, and
restrained. They trust us to be on the side
of decency. They trust us to do what's right.
George Bush, 1992

http://members.aol.com/superogue/

[mike_c]

1. well, I just added it to my reading list....

eom

[kitty1]

20. I have a copy. Interesting book. The chapter Kidnapping and Looting

contains a list for every country that the US has confiscated important documents/valuables from. Examples are Guatemala and Panama. There is also a chapter consise history of global intervention whichs sets out a chronological time line for every country in the world that the CIA/US government targeted in order to influence political scenarios in their favour. Military coups, assasinations, etc... Another listing is in the chapter: The US vs the world at the UN. A year by year account of those proposed measures voted no by the US, and what the measures were for. This author left no stone unturned. I wouldn't use keys to start my car up if I were him right now. Anyway, I might just put the book on Ebay since I'm done with it.

[Tanuki]

2. Hahaha

I thought only Oprah Winfrey had that kind of clout!

[Theres-a]

8. *snarf*

:spray:

[daleo]

3. I read it years ago

Well worth reading. Ossama should have mentioned "Sorrows of Empire" too. I didn't know there was an Al Qeada Book Club.

[chookie]

4. Is Oprah P-Oed?

Damn -- Osama is great for sales -- maybe even better than Oprah. I wonder if I can get him to mention my latest book....

[HuffleClaw]

5. oh, i expect this guy will be harrassed bigtime for this

watch the rw scream machine call him a terrorist in about five minutes.

[High Plains]

6. Ha ha ha...

Bill is an old colleague and friend of mine. He's loving this.

He worked at the State Department in the 1960s, got turned by the Vietnam War, and has been a real radical ever since. I'm sure he can handle anything the FBI or CIA wants to throw at him.

[BeyondGeography]

7. Osama should read, "Empire of Debt," to see how it all ends

Then he might conclude that he doesn't even have to attack us anymore, since we're doing a such a bang-up of destroying ourselves.

[VegasWolf]

22. Snort. LOL. Sooo true. We are destroying ourselves with deficit and

debt. Pure greed.

:toast:

[mikita]

9. love the man...

EVERYONE should read ALL his books. They are the best history lesson you never got in school!

[rainbow4321]

10. Do they have a My Pet Goat-level edition for chimp??

Something with lots of pictures, maybe?

[Richard D]

11. Osama's endorsement jumps sales

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unexpected endorsement from al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of U.S. foreign policy.

William Blum's "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com's sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list.

Bin Laden said al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States but also told Americans, "It is useful for you to read the book 'The Rogue State.'"

"I was quite surprised and even shocked and amused when I found out what he'd said," Blum said on Friday in an interview with Reuters Television in his Washington apartment.

"I was glad. I knew it would help the book's sales and I was not bothered by who it was coming from.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060121/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_security_binladen_book;_ylt=ArOBelUXCdBOuRMytEkUCt8Z.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA4cmUwbnA1BHNlYwMxNzAy

[davidinalameda]

12. I feel sorry for Mr. Blum

wonder how long it's going to take befor the Bushies come after him

[High Plains]

16. I know Bill Blum. He's more than ready for the Bushies.

[davidinalameda]

19. good for him then!

[anotherdrew]

21. still, maybe he could use a 24x7 private security detail

to bad Public Enemy's not around anymore to lend him a detatchment of S1Ws...

[donheld]

23. If you really have any contact with this author

let him know we at Democratic Underground have his back.

[High Plains]

26. I will do that.

I'm just getting ready to email him. We used to work together at a bizarre little rag called the CovertAction Quarterly...

[thebigidea]

28. ah, I remember that. High Weirdness by Mail got me interested...

I must've been on so many watch lists do the odd publications that would come in due to that book...

[High Plains]

30. Those were the days...

I still have my copy of High Weirdness By Mail.

I guess it's an artifact of the pre-internets era.

[High Plains]

31. Bill Blum's reply to my congratulatory email

in which I teased him about livin' large off the royalties (he's a notorious tightwad; he once chastisted me for using toll roads to drive between DC and NYC):

"Hi Phil:

Very nice to hear from you. It''s been pretty amazing. I've been on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, BBC, and many more TV, radio and print media, with more to come, including al Jazeera. My photo was on page one of the Washington Post with a long article about me inside. Ironic because they never print any of my letters. I'm now mainly worried about being stopped at airports, and I'm flying to Ohio Wednesday.

But I may not make a penny out of this. My publisher can't afford to print enough copies to come even close to the demand, assuming there really is a big demand. Amazon's rankings are not the same as sales. I'd guess that 50 orders for the same book in one day can shoot the rankings up tremendously."

...and then some personal stuff.

[rodeodance]

27. seems like a self-assured man. --saw him on an interview.

[soothsayer]

13. Sayyyyy, how can i get osama to endorse MY products...?

A spokesperson for the new millennium!

[thefool_wa]

15. BWAAAAHAAAAHAAAA!

Yeah, I'm writing some pseudo-anti-establishment work as we speak. Does someone have an address I can send it to so OBL can get people to buy it!

:sarcasm:

[Richard D]

14. Oops, sorry, dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2055862

[Briar]

17. He was interviewed on the BBC this morning

They tried hard to make him say "Oops, OBL likes my ideas, so they must be unpatriotic rubbish," but he was way too clever, witty and strong-willed for them. I was impressed.

[savemefromdumbya]

24. Thought you meant Osama was interviewed by the BBC

Osama will be doing talk shows next

[LisaL]

18. Osama-better than any commercial.

[donheld]

25. Kicked and Nominated

[Matilda]

29. A link to the William Blum page on Third World Traveler.

Some interesting essays, and also links to selections from Rogue State
and other works.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/William_Blum.html