Ari Fleischer Is No Longer Our Hero

January 27th, 2005 · No Comments
by Booksquare

Let us just say that we have made not answering direct questions an art. We can, without breaking a sweat, dissemble until everyone present has forgotten the topic. Mostly this happens because we, uh, weren’t paying attention to the question, and find ourselves scrambling to make up stuff until a real answer comes to mind. We discovered this technique in the 8th grade, when the definition of “grassroots” came up on a U.S. history test. If we’d ever heard the word before, it wasn’t in this lifetime. However, writers write, and we wrote. At least two pages. And got the answer right. So there. You don’t have to pay attention to everything in class.

However, today’s Publisher’s Lunch reminds us that we are not so much lame as out of practice. Yes, a beautiful answer to a beautiful question (which we will quote more than normal because it’s not the website, and we can’t find it in the Marketplace):

Speaking of Books and Charity

After noticing the alacrity with which Doubleday was persuaded to pledge any profits from their Al-QAEDA READER to appropriate charitable organizations, we wondered what had become of Norton’s pledge to consider donating some of their windfall from the authorized 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT.

Spokesperson Louise Brockett confirms that as of late last year the house began to “take a good look at the sales status…to review where things stand.” She indicates that “Fortunately, we do find ourselves in a position to make a donation to a charity or charities. Right now, the matter of the donation is very much a priority here, and we’re deeply involved in discussions about this. We hope to make an announcement before long.”

File Under: Publishers and Editors