Think Progress

Laura Bush’s memoir fetches less than Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush’s.

bushreads.jpgScribner announced yesterday that it would publish the memoirs of Laura Bush in 2010. Today, the New York Post reports that the First Lady “received an advance of $1.6 million” on the book deal, far less than the several million that it was expected to fetch. Gawker notes that Bush’s deal “is not only a mere one-fifth of what [former First Lady Hillary Clinton] got, it’s even less than Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush got.”




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79 Responses to “Laura Bush’s memoir fetches less than Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush’s.”

  1. Zimzone Says:

    Will the title be 'I married WTF Bush, & Look at me Now'?


  2. gummitch Says:

    She could bump that advance up considerably by filing for divorce on January 21.


  3. Zooey Says:

    "Xanax Days: My Life With George"


  4. RUCerious Says:

    How to parody a mannequin for eight years before the drunk...What a bust seller!


  5. moondancer Says:

    The chain-smoking Texas librarian should be an excit...zzzzzzzz


  6. tanglewood Says:

    Who cares what Laura has to say!! After the last 8 years, over 75% of the country is just happy that they will be gone.....I'm not interested in any aspect of her life or her marriage.

    Just go away.


  7. TXProgressive Says:

    It will be a short book, the woman didn't do anything while her husband served. What cause did she champion?

    This one is destined for the $1.00 pile.


  8. RantingTommy Says:

    "My Husband Became President and All I Got Was This Lousy Xanax Addiction"

    ---------------------------------------------
    'ere - Atlanta's Progressive Jazz
    (yes that's me on the piano)
    Find us at ReverbNation.com/ere
    ---------------------------------------------


  9. deebaser Says:

    "The Base" aren't exactly known for readin'.


  10. alphainfinityomega Says:

    Caption:

    "This is George's favorite book, and one of a series that helped George beat Karl Rove in that reading contest that they had".

    ¶ AIO


  11. RUCerious Says:

    Now if she were to really publish her daily drunken presidunce diary, it might be worth a coupla mill... just snarkin..


  12. tarazan Says:

    Book Title : [ How Not To Know Anything About Romance ].


  13. Wayne Says:

    That is still way too much money for her mindless drivel... ummm... memoirs.
    I won't even be buying this book off the dollar rackat the book stores.


  14. PlacitasRoy Says:

    $1.6 Still too damn much! Shold be worth about $1.98.


  15. Badmoodman Says:

    Laura Bush’s memoir fetches less than Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush’s.»

    - - Laura's memoirs will be titled, My Pet Goof.


  16. McWars Says:

    Lauraburton cashing in.


  17. stewarjt Says:

    Really, who wants to read about failure, failure and yet more failure?


  18. mausium Says:

    It will be a short book, the woman didn’t do anything while her husband served. What cause did she champion?

    Botox, Xanax.


  19. slappy magoo Says:

    "Vehicular Manslaughter, Shmehicular Shmanslaugher, I'm the First Lady, BEE-YOTCH! A Memoir", by Laura Bush


  20. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    entitled:
    My Life With Incurious George or
    Laura In La-La Land or
    My Mate, Goat or
    Presidenting for Dummies or


  21. Buckie Boy Says:

    Can we guess what the book will say?

    George is really a wonderful, caring, charming, compassionate man, who was not responsible for any of those awful things that happened. He just happened to be the duly elected President at the time and history will be quite different from what some traitors say about him now.

    There condensed the whole thing into on paragraph.


  22. InOnTheFly Says:

    I wonder if the President will submitting any of his personally done Crayola works of art for this book? Or maybe a few elitist quotes out of the mouth of her Mother-in-law?


  23. IgnoranceIsNotBliss Says:

    I'm just not interested in reading what she has to write.


  24. Uncle Ho Says:

    Bush memoirs = toilet paper

    guaranteed to inflame hemorrhoids.


  25. Uncle Ho Says:

    BTW- every copy should include a tube of Preparation H.


  26. grayandmuddy Says:

    My suggestion for a title is "My Future Job, Bush Liberian"


  27. Dr. Hussein Matt Says:

    Will the book include the story of how she murdered her boyfriend?


  28. Xisithrus Says:

    I wouldnt read it if it were given to me free of charge


  29. barfly Says:

    Joe the Plumber gets a book deal, and George can't even get a nibble from Regnery.

    That's got to hurt.


  30. nanlichi Says:

    "How I killed the wrong boyfriend"


  31. hanshiro Says:

    You can't recoup any sizable advance when comic books only go for about $2.50...


  32. A Patriot Acting Says:

    Some title ideas:

    "I'm With Stupid"
    "Queen of De Nial"
    "Stepford Wiving For Dummies"
    "A Brief History of Crime"
    "Mein Chimp"
    "A Series of Unfortunate Events II"
    "Incurious George and the Great Pretzel Incident"
    "The Deciderer's Guide to the Galaxy"

    suggestions...?


  33. onelove12 Says:

    The fallout from her husband's eight-year reign has ensnared her too. That's pretty bad that she has commanded less than her mother-in-law who was not an active or convincing First Lady.


  34. grover nerdkissed Says:

    HA HA, suck it, CrazyEyes!


  35. StratRat Says:

    Hmmmm, $1.6 million for being forced to sleep next to Bush? I guess that might make sense. Laura deserved something for making the horrible choice she made when she agreed to marry Bush. Thinking about it, she may even deserve more than she received.


  36. mary Says:

    "It Takes a Village Idiot"
    By Laura Bush

    Courtesy of 'chascates' who posted here, where they share a proposed Table of Contents beginning with:
    Chapter One: The First Night He Threw Up On Me


  37. livelongandprosper Says:

    "Painting the White House Red" - Laura Bush


  38. livelongandprosper Says:

    "Willful Ignorance - How to dumb yourself down for your man." - Laura Bush


  39. Dr. Hussein Matt Says:

    "My Life as a Stepford Wife"
    ~By Laura Bush, Foreword by Jeff Gannon


  40. livelongandprosper Says:

    "Listen Up - How George thought I was God when I was whispering in his ear." - Laura Bush


  41. livelongandprosper Says:

    "All's Swell That Ends Swell - History as I want you to remember it" - Laura Bush


  42. ElBruce Says:

    How could she come up with enough words to fill a whole book? All she's done is grin like a dope fiend for eight years. And who would want to read it?


  43. barfly Says:

    "I'm With Stupid" is a catchy phrase.


  44. curious Says:

    Who cares what she thinks or says? What does it say about her intelligence to marry this mentally challenged, spoiled, smirking, strutting frat boy?

    Is she going to talk about her own checkered past? Is she going to be honest about her part in the death of a former boyfriend at 16? I doubt it.

    If she had any sense, which is questionable, she would take the money and get that divorce. Then she should take his ass to the cleaners. She should be paid well. Just for being married to this boy.


  45. EnnuiDivine Says:

    Eh..she's a good woman. Just didn't
    -Get involved in policy making
    -Fervently boost literacy amongst children
    -Act as an international envoy for various peace talks

    Basically, too boring to have a memoir.


  46. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    I'm holding out for Barney's memoir.


  47. MapleStreet Says:

    Even though I commend Mrs. Laura B. for writing on a level appropriate for her husband, from the picture it appears that Dr. Seuss has already written the book.

    Not to mention that Dr. S is almost certainly more reliable and funnier.


  48. Shayne Says:

    Boohoo, nobody understands us, nobody appreciates all we've done, wahwahwah. Puhlease.


  49. wiley Says:

    It's all about them. They just can't keep from carrying on about themselves, can they? On and on...

    Fourteen days.


  50. Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:

    I had a dream. And in this dream Laura Bush served George with divorce papers the day they left the White House and then went on to write a "tell-all" book. By receiving that advance she will be independent of Bush financially and she can start a new life without having to continue to live a lie.


  51. krystalviews Says:

    If Laura want to sell her book... Here'sthe perfect title:
    " Married to the human manisfestation of SATAN,a true story.


  52. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    I do so like tricks and scams
    I do so like them, Sam I Am
    I like them to start a war
    I like them to fill my wallet more
    I like them at election time
    I like them at taxation time
    I do so like to fool gramps and grams
    I do so like it, Sam I Am.


  53. Fred Says:

    Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
    I had a dream.

    It's a nice dream but I suspect that she is with him because they are so alike.......


  54. RUCerious Says:

    Wow! That was eight years? By Baura Lush.


  55. Yankeluh Says:

    Ya think it is going to mention her driving record?


  56. misshusseinmolly Says:

    OK -- this seems to have turned into a pot-shot thread against Laura Bush. She's not a bad person, really. But she's also not interesting enough to read about (or if she is, she's certainly kept her light under a bushel).

    I don't think we have had a First Lady so lacking an individual identity since Pat Nixon. Does this mean that Pat Nixon and Laura Bush have no individual identities? Of course not -- surely they do, as we all do. It's just that whatever identity they had was never adequately revealed to the American public, as they lived pretty much in the shadow of their husbands.

    Pat Nixon never wrote her memoirs. There were two biographies written about her later (one by her daughter), but it's not known what the advance was in either case (probably not in the seven figures, though). If she had tried shopping her memoirs around to publishers during her last days in the White House, she might have had some takers, but I doubt that her advance would have been very large -- even if it WAS during the Watergate crisis.

    When you think of First Ladies who had their own identities, you mostly likely think of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Betty Ford, and Hillary Clinton first -- the ones who blazed forth like supernovae, for good or for bad.

    Then you think of Bess Truman, Lady Bird Johnson, Rosalyn Carter, and Barbara Bush. Women who probably weren't super celebrities like Jackie Kennedy, but who definitely made it clear they had minds of their own and weren't afraid to use them.

    The only time we have ever seen or heard from Laura Bush is when she is defending her husband and parroting what his handlers tell her to say. She's a good obedient little political wife. But not exciting enough to sell books.

    The advance really doesn't have so much to do with what publishers think of her husband's legacy as it has to do with publishers' predictions of how her book will sell.


  57. Bozo The Neoclown Says:

    is that a picture of her holding up an advanced copy? go figure, the jacket looks like a dr. seuss book, the only books her old man can understand.


  58. Fred Says:

    misshusseinmolly Says:
    OK — this seems to have turned into a pot-shot thread against Laura Bush. She’s not a bad person, really.

    I disagree. You are the company you keep. She will be a staunch defender of the bush admin just as barbara was.....


  59. ElBruce Says:

    I hope it includes recipes!

    misshusseinmolly Says:

    OK — this seems to have turned into a pot-shot thread against Laura Bush...

    The news item really isn't substantial enough for anything more. I think people are just astonished at how somebody could share a bed with the greatest war criminal and traitor to the Constitution that America has ever seen. Sure, the crimes are his, but she stood there the whole time with that really creepy frozen grin.

    If she has an identity, she sure doesn't act like it. Do we hope she'll gain one? Sure: there are plenty of posts here saying how neat it would be if she immediately divorces him and divulges what she surely knows. But this "Stepford Wife" act she's been keeping up constantly is as much of a loopy historical throwback as if she were wearing a loincloth and grunting. That's not a person, that's someone who has chosen to become a cardboard cutout of one, and she will be treated accordingly by we the "loyal opposition."


  60. krystalviews Says:

    when misshusseinmolly writes "she's not a bad person, really" it begs the question:
    How do you know this ? She's enabled and supported a murdering war criminal all her life. there's NO way she's not a bad person !


  61. Dr. Hussein Matt Says:

    Republicans in Congress Less Popular Than Bush

    ROFL!!!! OOOOPSSSSSS

    We've heard and seen many news reports about how unpopular Congress is with the American people. And it is at an all time low, but what most TV analysts are refusing to point out is that it's the Republicans in Congress that are dragging down the approval rating. As a new Gallop poll shows us--Republicans in Congress Less Popular Than Bush.


  62. Fred Says:

    misshusseinmolly is the nice person and all who post here know that.

    This is no less than I would expect from misshusseinmolly but I'm not that generous. That is my weakness of charactor, not hers.


  63. Nevar Says:

    title suggestion...
    Beaten Around The Bush


  64. Nevar Says:

    I understand misshusseinmolly to be exhibiting compassion..

    In my neighborhood, when we hear someone say: "He/she is not really a bad person" or "She/he is really a nice person" it tends to imply they are clueless, naive, unaware, or just plain stupid...


  65. Leftside Annie Says:

    "Let Them Eat Cornbread: Marie Antoinette, Texas Style"


  66. shoeless Says:

    I've already read The Stepford Wives.


  67. Jackie Says:

    Laura's book will be at the 99 cent store at the end of the week. She blocked out the part of being the College Campus drug dealer and how she murder her boyfriend.


  68. MCMetal Says:

    Coloring Books For Seniors ...........


  69. LizCoro Says:

    Must be hard living with Bubble a 'dry drunk' who never reads a newspaper . .

    I'd like to hear what Laura thinks of her mother-in-law's comments after Katrina??

    Anyone think she'll be truthful??


  70. StratRat Says:

    Laura Bush, bless her heart!


  71. ThereIsNoSanctuary Says:

    Too bad Sleeping with the Enemy is already taken.


  72. republicanSScareme Says:

    Good. Maybe we can finally learn Laura cookie recipes. Shouldn't her book be called "A Moron Among Giants?"


  73. Nevar Says:

    With that grin, she could reprise Heath Ledger's role in the next Batman movie...

    RIP Heath.


  74. Marie Says:

    So what is she going to write about? That she married the moron we have all come to know?

    The only thing that would advance the sales of her memoir would be the admission that the spousal oaf has never stopped doing coke nor drinking - that the pretzel incident was the first tip off to that but was covered up in the press. That he was snorting every day.
    I'd buy the book if I thought it finally told the truth.


  75. Marie Says:

    People have a lot to say about whether Obama has been able to completely give up cigarettes - but Laura is a chain smoker whose habit is never mentioned.


  76. sacopenapa Says:

    I wouldn't use this book for toilet paper!!!


  77. misshusseinmolly Says:

    Fred Says
    January 6th, 2009 at 3:36 pm

    I disagree. You are the company you keep. She will be a staunch defender of the bush admin just as barbara was…..
    ___________________________________________________________

    No, when I say she's not a bad person, I mean that she isn't an evil person in the way that her husband is, that Dick Cheney is, that Karl Rove is, etc. As far as I know, Laura hasn't deliberately gotten us into a war based on lies. Laura hasn't rammed legislation through Congress robbing Americans of their freedoms. Laura never outed a covert agent as punishment against a political enemy. Laura never fired any attorneys because they refused to break the law. And to my knowledge, Laura has never set up any secret torture camps around the world.

    Yes, she probably supports all these actions based on what she's been told -- as do many misguided Americans. But I just don't see her in the Situation Room of the White House plotting with the conspirators. And that's a big difference.


  78. Keith Says:

    I was going to say something like:
    "Dear Journal, today I took an extra dose of Xanax".
    But Zooey beat me to the punch.
    Laura looks like the mugshot of Nicole Bush.


  79. ElBruce Says:

    sacopenapa Says:

    I wouldn’t use this book for toilet paper!!!

    I would.



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