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American Morning

2003: Last Word on Books

Aired December 30, 2003 - 07:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As part of our look back at the big stories of the year, we're dusting off our bookshelves and giving the last word on the printed word in 2003 to three writers.
Susan Orlean, whose best-selling book, "The Orchid Thief," became the movie adaptation, joins us this morning.

Good morning to you.

O'BRIEN: Also, AMERICAN MORNING regular, Andy Borowitz, he's out with a book this year. And Sarah Nelson joins us as well this morning. She is the author of, "So Many Books, So Little Time," which in many ways might say it all.

Good morning, you guys. Let's get right to it. And, Andy, we're going to start with you.

There was a whole series of books this year, which, I think, fall under the genre of mean-spirited, political books -- people taking jabs at each other. Talk about some of those books and how you think they did.

ANDY BOROWITZ, AUTHOR: Well, pretty much everybody who had an angry talk radio show had a book. Bill O'Reilly had a book. Al Franken had "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."

But it really did seem to be kind of the publishing equivalent of talk radio, where right-wing radio listeners would vote by buying O'Reilly's book or Ann Coulter's book. And I think there was so much pent-up anger from the left that when Al Franken's book came out, it just became this huge best seller. And I think the fact that Fox News and O'Reilly threatened to sue him probably added about $5 million to his bank account.

SUSAN ORLEAN, AUTHOR, "THE ORCHID THIEF": I also wonder how many people were reading those books. I think it was a sort of vote. You would go out and think, damn it, I'm going to buy that Al Franken book just to sort of make a...

O'BRIEN: Make him a best seller.

ORLEAN: Yes, to make a statement.

SARA NELSON, AUTHOR, "SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME": I also think that there was so much controversy around it, it started an argument. I mean, it almost came to blows between Franken and O'Reilly at a book convention last year. It got a lot of publicity. O'BRIEN: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, AUTHOR, "WHO'S LOOKING OUT FOR YOU?": Shut up!

AL FRANKEN, AUTHOR, "LIES AND THE LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM": This isn't your show, Bill!

O'REILLY: This is what this guy does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON: It just (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Al Franken's book. It did wonders. I mean, the book was doing well before that, but then I think it just really took off. And I think people want to see what -- you know, what was all of the fuss about.

O'BRIEN: All right, Susan, let's talk about another big book, which is also a political book. Hillary Clinton got a massive advance. In the end that really did pay off.

ORLEAN: It was one of those huge gambles in the publishing world, and I think most people felt at the time that this was crazy.

BOROWITZ: You know, I was one of the people that underestimated this book, and I'm very...

O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm sorry. Were you saying you were wrong?

BOROWITZ: I was definitely wrong.

O'BRIEN: Huh!

BOROWITZ: I know. It's the first time I've ever admitted that.

O'BRIEN: Wrong!

BOROWITZ: My wife has been waiting to hear that for years. Political books in general have been disappointing, and there's a sort of inside baseball quality about them.

NELSON: I think she did an amazing job of promoting that book, and, I mean...

BOROWITZ: That is also true.

NELSON: ... there have been many, many first lady books. I mean, Barbara Bush has one out now. And they, you know, historically have been a lot of them, and none of them has done as well as Hillary Clinton's book.

O'BRIEN: Let's move on. "The Da Vinci Code," the big winner of the year.

NELSON: Yes, it sold, I think, in the neighborhood of a million copies. I mean, that's a lot for a hard cover book.

O'BRIEN: Why?

NELSON: Well, this has a historical aspect, and also it's about religion, you know? And religion is, you know, a big topic right now.

ORLEAN: (AUDIO GAP) and who, to my knowledge, has never actually read a book, said to me, "Have you read "The Da Vinci Code? It's the best book." And...

O'BRIEN: Like, no pumpkin, my books would be the best book, and that book is also a good book.

ORLEAN: Yes, right. Really. We'll just pretend you didn't say that. I think the element of it being -- having a mysterious quality.

NELSON: I think you're right. It covers a lot of bases. It's a thriller. It's historical. It's about religion. It's about sex. It's about marriage.

O'BRIEN: At end of the day, it's about appealing to everybody...

NELSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... getting the biggest audience and you will walk away a big winner.

NELSON: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Well, that will be our final word this morning on books in 2003. Sara and Susan and Andy, thanks, you guys. Appreciate it for the last word on books in 2003.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired December 30, 2003 - 07:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As part of our look back at the big stories of the year, we're dusting off our bookshelves and giving the last word on the printed word in 2003 to three writers.
Susan Orlean, whose best-selling book, "The Orchid Thief," became the movie adaptation, joins us this morning.

Good morning to you.

O'BRIEN: Also, AMERICAN MORNING regular, Andy Borowitz, he's out with a book this year. And Sarah Nelson joins us as well this morning. She is the author of, "So Many Books, So Little Time," which in many ways might say it all.

Good morning, you guys. Let's get right to it. And, Andy, we're going to start with you.

There was a whole series of books this year, which, I think, fall under the genre of mean-spirited, political books -- people taking jabs at each other. Talk about some of those books and how you think they did.

ANDY BOROWITZ, AUTHOR: Well, pretty much everybody who had an angry talk radio show had a book. Bill O'Reilly had a book. Al Franken had "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."

But it really did seem to be kind of the publishing equivalent of talk radio, where right-wing radio listeners would vote by buying O'Reilly's book or Ann Coulter's book. And I think there was so much pent-up anger from the left that when Al Franken's book came out, it just became this huge best seller. And I think the fact that Fox News and O'Reilly threatened to sue him probably added about $5 million to his bank account.

SUSAN ORLEAN, AUTHOR, "THE ORCHID THIEF": I also wonder how many people were reading those books. I think it was a sort of vote. You would go out and think, damn it, I'm going to buy that Al Franken book just to sort of make a...

O'BRIEN: Make him a best seller.

ORLEAN: Yes, to make a statement.

SARA NELSON, AUTHOR, "SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME": I also think that there was so much controversy around it, it started an argument. I mean, it almost came to blows between Franken and O'Reilly at a book convention last year. It got a lot of publicity. O'BRIEN: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, AUTHOR, "WHO'S LOOKING OUT FOR YOU?": Shut up!

AL FRANKEN, AUTHOR, "LIES AND THE LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM": This isn't your show, Bill!

O'REILLY: This is what this guy does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON: It just (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Al Franken's book. It did wonders. I mean, the book was doing well before that, but then I think it just really took off. And I think people want to see what -- you know, what was all of the fuss about.

O'BRIEN: All right, Susan, let's talk about another big book, which is also a political book. Hillary Clinton got a massive advance. In the end that really did pay off.

ORLEAN: It was one of those huge gambles in the publishing world, and I think most people felt at the time that this was crazy.

BOROWITZ: You know, I was one of the people that underestimated this book, and I'm very...

O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm sorry. Were you saying you were wrong?

BOROWITZ: I was definitely wrong.

O'BRIEN: Huh!

BOROWITZ: I know. It's the first time I've ever admitted that.

O'BRIEN: Wrong!

BOROWITZ: My wife has been waiting to hear that for years. Political books in general have been disappointing, and there's a sort of inside baseball quality about them.

NELSON: I think she did an amazing job of promoting that book, and, I mean...

BOROWITZ: That is also true.

NELSON: ... there have been many, many first lady books. I mean, Barbara Bush has one out now. And they, you know, historically have been a lot of them, and none of them has done as well as Hillary Clinton's book.

O'BRIEN: Let's move on. "The Da Vinci Code," the big winner of the year.

NELSON: Yes, it sold, I think, in the neighborhood of a million copies. I mean, that's a lot for a hard cover book.

O'BRIEN: Why?

NELSON: Well, this has a historical aspect, and also it's about religion, you know? And religion is, you know, a big topic right now.

ORLEAN: (AUDIO GAP) and who, to my knowledge, has never actually read a book, said to me, "Have you read "The Da Vinci Code? It's the best book." And...

O'BRIEN: Like, no pumpkin, my books would be the best book, and that book is also a good book.

ORLEAN: Yes, right. Really. We'll just pretend you didn't say that. I think the element of it being -- having a mysterious quality.

NELSON: I think you're right. It covers a lot of bases. It's a thriller. It's historical. It's about religion. It's about sex. It's about marriage.

O'BRIEN: At end of the day, it's about appealing to everybody...

NELSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... getting the biggest audience and you will walk away a big winner.

NELSON: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Well, that will be our final word this morning on books in 2003. Sara and Susan and Andy, thanks, you guys. Appreciate it for the last word on books in 2003.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.