I Got a Blurb from Bin Laden!

I have recently been impressed by the enviable promotional skills of novelists Nicole Richie and Scooter Libby who, through their imaginative extra-literary endeavors, were able to bring more attention to their respective books than they otherwise might have received. But the impressive efforts of these two have now been utterly trumped by formerly obscure historian William Blum who has somehow managed to procure a blurb for his book "Rogue State" by uber-tastemaker Osama bin Laden. According to the Washington Post, the book's Amazon ranking was #205,763 a couple of days ago. As of Saturday morning, it had leapt to #19. Move over Oprah, there's a new boy in town and he's carrying a Kalashnikov!

Bin Laden, who I wrongly assumed only read the Koran, apparently took time out between his dialysis treatments and planning our fiery deaths to peruse Blum's book, a leftist jeremiad against American involvement in world affairs. And what did he have to say about it? "If Bush carries on his lies and oppression, it would be useful to read the book 'Rogue State'." From Blum's perspective, you can't do better than that. And the elegance of the endorser's understatement! Not "Read this book or I'll kill you", which, frankly, is what I would expect, but "it would be useful". If Bin Laden wasn't a mass murderer, he could be writing Talk of the Town pieces for the New Yorker.

For an author, procuring blurbs from prominent people is a tricky thing. Blum was probably clicking his heels when Gore Vidal agreed to weigh in on his behalf, and certainly Vidal's cranky imprimatur must have sold a copy or two of the book. Yet "Rogue State" was languishing somewhere in the rear of the pack and seemed destined for obscurity. Then, as if in a publicist's fever dream, lightning struck and an Arabic translation of Blum's tome somehow made its way to an obscure corner of Waziristan and into the hands of the world's most wanted bibliophile. The story would have ended there had Bin Laden not mentioned it in his recent audiotape, which was heard by a significantly higher audience than watches the Super Bowl. Talk about product placement.

What was truly amazing, from an authorial perspective, is Blum didn't even have to solicit the guy. And how would he have done that, anyway? After writing Dear Osama what could he have said? I'm a fan? Where would he have sent the letter? Were he somehow able to get the Evil One's attention, it would have been narcissistic in the extreme to mention he had written a book, much less ask for a blurb. The whole thing would have been a non-starter.

Now William Blum can enjoy his newfound celebrity and only hope Bin Laden doesn't ask for a cut. As for Bin Laden, I understand CAA is trying to find him.