Obama, "Sick Of Briefing Books," Turns To Novel

By: Igor Kossov
Topics: White House

(Pantheon)

When he gets tired of trying to solve the country's problems, it seems President Obama likes to kick back with a novel: In an interview with the New York Times, the president said he is "sick of briefing books" and is reading "Netherland" by the Irish author Joseph O'Neill.

The 2008 novel features a Dutchman living in NYC after the 9/11 attacks. His wife leaves him and he begins playing cricket with a Trinidadian immigrant who works for a Russian gangster. The story, written in the first person, explores how people perceive their life as a narrative and how New York gets under your skin and never quite goes away, according to the Washington Post's review on Amazon.

"Netherland," as one of New York Times's best books of the year, has already sold over 90,000 copies but that number might surge on the news. Mr. Obama has a way of making books wildly popular – when Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez gave him a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America," that book shot up to from about 50,000 in total sales to the become the second bestselling book on Amazon.com.

Other books in Mr. Obama's recent repertoire include "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria, which talks about what happens in a world in which the United States is not a lone superpower. Salon.com published an article in 2008 which referred to Mr. Obama as "the most literary president" and offers a partial list of his reading material.

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by Truth4SD April 29, 2009 7:23 PM EDT: This country is very divided. It's the beginning of the end for America; Reply to this comment


by voxpopulus April 29, 2009 7:16 PM EDT: Beats reading fiction about weapons of mass destruction.; Reply to this comment


by voxpopulus April 29, 2009 7:14 PM EDT: Republicans, grow up if you want a hope of ever running this country again.; Reply to this comment


by rbstrcklnd April 29, 2009 7:02 PM EDT: If I remember correctly, he and Michelle "escaped" from the White House during his first week in office and went to an elementary school to celebrate their "freedom".; Reply to this comment


by weedapeapl April 29, 2009 6:01 PM EDT: When he gets tired of trying to solve the country?s problems....

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How can he be tired of solving the country's problems?

HE HASN'T SOLVED ANY!

Oh, wait. It says he's tired of TRYING.......

Yah, I'm getting pretty tired of him just TRYING to solve problems - and only making them worse instead.

Obama, you are the worst president in 100 years.

Just resign already.

I'd rather watch Joe Biden flounder around trying to solve problems for a change.

At least he didn't bow to the king of Saudi Arabia.; Reply to this comment