June 15, 2003

In a show of pettiness and possible cluelessness Jonah Goldberg of the National Review is expressing doubts on the number of copies of Living History by Senator Hillary Clinton that were sold. He states that: Simon and Schuster claimed yesterday that they sold 20 percent or 200,000 copies of the book on its first day. Not only do I think this is impossible, given purely anecdotal information, I'm confident it is impossible that Simon and Schuster could actually know if they sold that many books. Such numbers are notoriously difficult to collect months after the fact. The idea that S&S got same-day data strikes me as bizarre. How come we've never gotten same day info like this before? Will we ever get it again? I don't think so. Hey Jonah, we have computers and UPC barcodes now. For a big launch like this Simon and Schuster can get the numbers. Even one of his co-writers says Simon and Schuster can get the numbers. In any case if a publisher claimed a book by a right winger sold 200,000 copies in the first day you would not see him expressing any doubts. 11:19:43 AM

Science comes to the aid of those who find watermelons too large and full of seeds – two companies have introduced smaller round seedless watermelons six to seven inches in diameter. The price is not miniaturized however $3.99 for a 5 to 6 pound mini-melon versus $2.99 to $5.99 for 17 to 20 pounds of regular watermelon. 11:04:37 AM