Please, Kind Sir, Buy My Book

Reading between the lines, it seems that Po' Jonah Goldberg was a wee bit disappointed in his loyal and adoring fans, who did not rush the bookstores to buy his latest, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Think They're So Smart When They're Really Not."

The Shameless Guilt Pays Off . Some nice emails today in response to my admittedly heavy-handed G-File (though it really wasn’t intended to sound so guilt-mongering, I was just writing very, very, fast that’s what came out). Here’s one: Subject: Be of good cheer I finished the Kindle edition of TOC, and immediately ordered 7 copies and gave them to the members of our high school debate team. We started discussing the book yesterday. No one has finished it yet, but we all agree that it is going to be an excellent weapon for us next year. We all had stories of encountering your examples in debate rounds (me and the other coaches while judging). The universal response was some variant of “They used that ‘one man’s terrorist’ crap on us at Princeton, and I wish I had had this answer ready!”So to your list of comforting accomplishments, you can add the fact that, thanks to J. Goldberg, the Randolph-Macon Academy Debate Team is going to kick some serious ass in the fall. And another, from a longtime reader:            ... 3) Good news: I touted ToC to the Face book crowd. Bad news: I did so by sort of accusing you of intercepting my thoughts. To wit– Jonah Goldberg’s new book arrived today, and–wow–it’s like he’s been stealing thoughts from directly inside my brain. Like  this one: “Now when it comes to enlightenments I’ve long followed the ruleof the dad in So I Married an Axe Murderer: ‘If it’s not Scottish, it’s crap.’”  I swear I said the exact same thing myself just the other day… And finally, damn libraries! Here’s hoping Mitt Romney takes care of them once he’s elected! Subject: LOVE the new book Jonah, today’s G-File only added to the guilt I was already feeling: I checked your book out at the library rather than buying it. I know, this is awful.... I’m trying to do my part in other ways: I’ve gone to Amazon and marked the good reviews as helpful, and the ones written by people who haven’t read the book or are criticizing Amazon’s DRM as unhelpful. I’ve written emails and internet message posts recommending the book. But I haven’t yet bought the book. I was looking this morning to see if you were doing a book-signing anywhere, but I understand that so far appearing on TV shows hosted by left-wing weenies has taken up most of your time. I’ll probably end up picking it up at Costco. I know it is only one book and that won’t really move the needle, but more than anything else I want to accomplish one thing: ensure a next book by Jonah Goldberg. Thanks, and good luck.

Goldberg was paid $1,000,000.00 to write that book. It's #43 in Amazon's ranking, above How To Be Richer, Smarter, and Better-Looking Than Your Parents in rank if not in spirit. Yet he complains that people should be buying his book more quickly?

Also, I would gladly pay per view to watch the Randolph-Macon Academy Debate Team meet Princeton armed with Jonah Goldberg's arguments, facts, and historical knowledge.