Wednesday, October 22, 2003

The new New York Times bestseller list is out. Michael Moore's still #1. Al Franken is back up to #2, while Bill O'Reilly slips to #3.

Over on the fiction side, at #9, is Richard North Patterson's new book, Balance of Power. Here's the Times's capsule description:

The president of the United States sets out to eliminate gun violence and to destroy lobbyists known as the Sons of the Second Amendment.

Hmmm... here's more, from Publishers Weekly's capsule review at Amazon's page for the book:

... When ... Bowden goes on a killing spree in an airport while the Kilcannons are away on their honeymoon, [President] Kerry [Kilkannon] sees red and goes after the manufacturer of the gun Bowden used. The gun lobby circles wagons around the SSA and pushes a tort-reform bill called the Civil Justice Reform Act, which protects the manufacturers of any "products" from litigation by victims of criminals. Congress kowtows to America's captains of industry, with guns as the focal point: "gun immunity hung in the balance of power between the President and the senator who intended to displace him." This is a Democratic nightmare scenario, and the novel paints a grim picture of the challenges facing gun-control advocates....

I wonder how soon the gun-loving right is going to go after Patterson for this book.

No comments: