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Date Posted: 16:58:29 06/25/04 Fri GMT
Author: Lynn
Subject: Dublin: Clinton memoirs elicit debates in Europe (Chicago Tribune)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/bal-artslife-news-clintoneurope22,1,4803040.story

Clinton memoirs elicit some sales, more debate in Europe's bookstores

The book is available in Britain and Ireland.
By Shawn Pogatchnik
The Associated Press

June 22, 2004, 9:17 AM CDT

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Bill Clinton's long-awaited memoirs may become a best-seller outside the United States, but they're already fueling debate across Europe about the myriad differences between him and George W. Bush.

Residents of Britain and Ireland got their first chance to buy the book Tuesday. In France, a nine-strong team of translators pushed to convert the mammoth tome into French for its launch there Wednesday.

In other countries where translations remained months away, "My Life" arrived in the form of newspaper serializations that focused largely either on Clinton's relationship with his wife, Hillary, or with Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who nearly brought down his presidency.

In Ireland, which the ex-president still visits yearly for golf and lucrative speaking engagements, Dubliners lauded Clinton as a driving force behind both the country's 1990s economic boom and the peace process in neighboring Northern Ireland.

"Clinton was a charmer, whereas Bush is just scary. But both men abused the power of their office," said Pat Huxtable, a Dublin psychotherapist thumbing through a copy in the foyer of Eason's on O'Connell Street, the flagship bookstore of Ireland. "With Clinton it was sex, whereas with Bush it's violence."

While the prominent U.S. flag-draped pile of "My Life" drew comments and brief stops from most Eason's customers -- "There's Bill!" explained one; "Best president the U.S.A. ever had," said another -- few were ready to plunk down $36, the going price for a copy of the door-stopper of the book.

"Think I'll wait 'til it's on the discount shelf. We love Bill Clinton in Ireland, but not THAT much!" said Tony Doyle, a retired Bank of Ireland worker.

Doyle, like many interviewed, said he wished Clinton was still president. "The man oozed charisma. He was great to listen to. I'd have been happy to see him going, going, going until he couldn't walk anymore," he said.

"The man could do no wrong 'til he was caught out with her ladyship," he said in reference to the exposure of Clinton's affair with Lewinsky. "How he escaped impeachment -- he must have been a genius."

"But he told outright lies, straight into the camera. He denied having anything to do with the girl. He talked like a preacher, but he has a dirty auld [old] fella," said Andrew Bowes, an insurance salesman, standing beside Doyle. Neither ended up buying the book.

In London, bookstores reported a surge of interest as workers took their lunchbreak.

"To me, what he did for the world is better than the single mistake he made," said Ted Woldearegay, a Londoner. "It doesn't affect my judgment of him. I'm one of his fans."

Indeed, some book browsers in Dublin expressed incredulity that Clinton's presidency could ever have been jeopardized by his private sexual life. Some noted that the current Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, has been living apart from his wife for two decades and, until a recent breakup, had openly traveled the world with his longtime new partner.

"Everybody knows Bertie's had a mistress for years, that he doesn't live with his wife, but it's no big deal in this supposedly Catholic country. He's prime minister, not the pope," said Nicole O'Connor, a computer saleswoman. "The Christian fundamentalists in America shouldn't get worried about the sex lives of presidents unless they're bedding young children or animals."

She added that Clinton was admired across Europe because of his diplomatic skills. "He was the first president with a policy that was fully conscious of Europe. And I doubt the U.S. would have invaded Iraq if Clinton was still in charge," she said.

In France, the conservative newspaper Le Monde published a two-page review in advance of Wednesday's launch of 150,000 copies. "It was a titanic job," Odile Jacob, the French publisher of Clinton's memoirs, was quoted as telling the newspaper.

But in neighboring Belgium, the major English-language bookstore in downtown Brussels elicited little interest from its own pile of "My Life."

"I think people want to read the story about Monica Lewinsky. But that is not what I'm interested in," said Katherine Aneye, who instead bought a cookbook.

In the Netherlands, the American Book Center in Amsterdam said scores of customers had either prebooked copies of "My Life" or arrived at the store to buy it Tuesday morning. "But it's no Harry Potter madness," noted Jeroen van Emmerik, an employee of the store, which had 200 copies on hand.

In Rome, where no Italian edition is planned, a newspaper instead planned a special 300-page Friday edition featuring excerpts from "My Life." Book sellers said interest was driven partly because of Clinton's popularity versus Bush.

Michele Genchi, manager of a Rome bookstore, thought the book would do well because Clinton's "private habits arouse curiosity."

In Spain, where the Spanish edition "Mi Vida" will go on sale in October, Clinton's former secretary of state was plugging her own memoirs. Madeline Albright predicted that the Clinton autobiography would be "the best seller of all times, and I think no normal person is going to be able to compete with him."

The book is being published in Hungary in two volumes by Ulpius Haz with an initial print run of 10,000 copies, a large number in a country where 5,000 copies sold is considered a best seller. The tabloid Blikk, the country's biggest-selling daily, on Tuesday began running a six-part series of excerpts.

"The size of the first printing shows that we have a lot of faith in this book," said Agnes Vandor, communications director for Ulpius Haz.

Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press

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