O The Book, O The Story, O The Conspiracy Of Silence

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Let us all praise the publicists at Simon & Schuster. Not only have they acquired a fictional manuscript about Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign by someone “who has been in the room with Barack Obama and knows the political world intimately.” They also plan to publish it anonymously, which will add to the excitement, since the only thing more exciting than fictional accounts of future real world events is real world intrigue about the fictional accounts of future real world events. They are calling the book “O,” which for those of you not well read in the French pornographic literature of the 1950s, seems to be a play on the title of another famous book, “The Story of O,” which was originally published under a false pen name and which birthed the slightly menacing jewelry design pictured above.

But that is just the beginning of the publicity campaign. This morning, the publisher of Simon & Schuster, Jonathan Karp, sent around an email asking the usual suspects to refrain from commenting on the possible authorship of the novel. It reads in part:

The author of the novel wishes to remain anonymous.  You may be asked to comment on whether or not you are the author.  If so, it would be great if you refrained from commenting, in solidarity with the principle that a book should be judged on its content and not on the perceived ideology of its author.

The author, an individual with integrity and talent, is someone who has been in the room with Barack Obama and knows the political world intimately. In fact, you may know this person, or know of this person — if you are not in fact the author yourself.

“Refrained from commenting, in solidarity.” Oooooo. A media conspiracy. Who will abide by the edict? Who will betray the cause? I was not a recipient of Karp’s initial email, but I have been in the room with Barack Obama and I know the political world intimately. Should I come forward to say what I do or do not know? If all the other trees don’t fall in the forest does the fallen tree make a sound?

Image source: Wikipedia.