Why Obama’s Book Might Actually Be Worth $65 Million

Slate: “Obama is unique among presidents for having found success and acclaim as an author before his political career vaulted to the heights. Sweetening the deal for his publisher is the unfamiliar possibility that his book might actually be good, a potential driver for even more sales.”

“But it also won’t particularly matter if it’s not. Presidential memoirs are given as Christmas and father’s day gifts, purchased and left on side tables as an emblem of their owner’s political sentiments and otherwise acquired by people with no great desire to explore their contents. Often as not, they represent a vote of support, a badge of affiliation, a souvenir. They are the tony equivalent of a commemorative plate. Actually reading them seems beside the point.”