Books For the Fall: Obama, Woodward and Moore

NEW YORK -- In case you're wondering which books to read this fall, Michael Moore has a suggestion: Don't read any.

Not the new fiction by Toni Morrison or Philip Roth or Stephen King. Not that policy book by Sen. Barack Obama, whom Moore is supporting for president; or Bob Woodward's latest on the Bush administration; or Thomas Friedman's manifesto on the environment.

Not even a little paperback meant as a handbook to the political campaigns. It's called "Mike's Election Guide 2008" and it's written by a certain Academy Award-winning filmmaker and well known agitator named Michael Moore.

"There really is no time for any frivolity. People are already working two jobs to put gas in the tank, so they can drive from the first job to the second job. People need to spend as much of their free time as possible for candidates," said Moore, who believes that electing progressives will improve the economy and, in the long run, enable people to read more.

"I would rather you go and work for a local candidate then read my book."

A multibillion-dollar industry has been built around such "frivolity," and if Moore is looking for an argument -- as he often is -- he can begin with the team at Grand Central Publishing that's releasing "Mike's Election Guide." Grand Central publisher Jamie Raab said she agrees with him "on the issues, and on the importance of the election.

"But I don't agree about reading his book. If people are going to vote wisely, they need to understand what's at stake."

Booksellers, including officials at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble Inc., say the releases look surprisingly strong for a time when the public will supposedly be too preoccupied to care. Barnes & Noble fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley says the literary work is as good as any in recent years, while Amazon's senior books editor, Brad Parsons, finds a "nice mix" of fiction and nonfiction.

Some books might even appeal to two people likely to be among the busiest on Earth this fall: Obama, the Democrats' presumptive nominee, and his presumed opponent, Sen. John McCain.

McCain has said he's a fan of John Updike, who will be releasing "The Widows of Eastwick," his sequel to the best-selling "The Witches of Eastwick." Three writers cited favorably by Obama will have novels out: Marilynne Robinson, whose "Home" is a companion to her Pulitzer Prize-winning "Gilead"; Morrison, with "A Mercy," set on a plantation in the 17th century; and Roth, whose "Indignation" takes place on a Midwestern college campus in the 1950s.

Other anticipated titles include Kate Atkinson's "When Will There Be Good News?" -- the new literary crime thriller from the author of "Case Histories." Wally Lamb, author of "She's Come Undone," has completed his first novel in a decade, "The Hour I First Believed." Pulitzer Prize winner E. Annie Proulx has a new story collection, "Fine Just the Way It Is." Booksellers also are hopeful about "2666," by the late Chilean author Roberto Balano, whose "Savage Detectives" was a critical and commercial success last year.

"I expect you'll see a lot of editorial excitement from us on that book," Parsons said.

Some fiction fits right into an election year, such as Christopher Buckley's "Supreme Courtship," a satire of the judicial branch, and Curtis Sittenfeld's "American Wife," which fictionalizes first lady Laura Bush. Sittenfeld, author of the best-seller "Prep," continues a tradition of novelists imagining the private lives of American leaders, like such recent works as Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler's "Intercourse," a story collection that includes a peek into the bedroom of the current first couple.

Three September releases that won't be overlooked: Obama's "Change We Can Believe In," a policy book and collection of speeches; Woodward's fourth volume about the Bush administration; and Friedman's "Hot, Flat and Crowded," his first since the million-selling "The World Is Flat."

Topical works are scheduled from Moore, Paul Begala and Ann Coulter. Topical thoughts will be transmitted from ancient times through Garry Wills' translation of epigrams by the Roman satirist Martial, including a couplet that reads like an ode to campaign fundraising: "I did not ask wealth for my own/It was just to make my rival groan."