Posts
'via Blog this'
This review is from: Fortunate Son: George W. Bush And The Making Of An American President (Paperback)
As a devoted conservative I found this book worth reading. It has a lot of liberal bias, but the information regarding G W's life should be investigated by any voting person and this author has done an excellent investigative job. Washington DC and both parties have become so corrupt, voters are turning away from the polls. We need to educate ourselves about all people running for office, this book helps. Take time to carefully read this book and decide for yourself based on what kind of person you want in the white house.140 of 150 people found the following review helpful
Every American Should Own A Copy of This Book!,By
This review is from: Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President (Paperback)
If you want to find out more about public officials, start with the books they don't want you to read. Fortunate Son, James Hatfield's swan song, amasses the singlemost informative and chilling overview of Bush the Younger, a man of wealth, privilege, and arrogance nearing Shakespearean proportions. In the wake of its destruction by its original publisher, subsequent revival by Soft Skull Press, as well as the tragic suicide of its author, this book has undergone several revisions. This third revision, featuring a new forward by Greg Palast and Mark Crispin Miller, is as outstanding as they come, the antithesis to all of the Neoconservative-sanctioned Bush books flooding the market. Approached as a cautionary tale, Fortunate Son's enormous scope is as insightful as it is well-written. An amazing work by an author whose brilliance resonates through every chapter.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortunate_Son_(Hatfield)
Hatfield stated in a later interview that the book had been "carefully fact-checked and scrutinized by lawyers" before the Bush campaign brought pressure to bear, as publicly stated by St. Martin's Press.[1]
Hatfield stated in a later interview that the book had been "carefully fact-checked and scrutinized by lawyers" before the Bush campaign brought pressure to bear, as publicly stated by St. Martin's Press.[1]
Due to the revelations of Hatfield's criminal past, and the damage to his credibility, in October 1999, Hatfield's publisher, St. Martin's Press, recalled 70,000 copies ofFortunate Son and left an additional 20,000 books in storage. Even so, the book had already reached the New York Times bestseller list. The book was later republished by Sander Hicks' publishing company Soft Skull Press. Hicks had previously gained some degree of notability as a New York punk rock musician.
Hatfield died on July 18, 2001 in what was apparently a suicide, dying of an overdose ofprescription drugs.
(Uh huh. Things that make you go hmmmmm.)
Police reports cited the events occurring in the }}aftermath ofFortunate Son's publication as a reason for taking his own life.
Police reports cite that?
Bush Accuser Dies Of Drug Overdose
James Howard Hatfield, 43, Author Of "Fortunate Son:
George W. Bush and the Making of an American President"
Found Dead In A Hotel Room On Wednesday July 18, 2001
Was This A Payback Murder For His Writing Fortunate Son, Or Did
He Really Commit Suicide By Overdosing On Prescription Drugs?
He Really Commit Suicide By Overdosing On Prescription Drugs?
by Irene Noguchi
The troubled author of a biography accusing President Bush of hiding a three-decade-old cocaine arrest committed suicide Wednesday. James Howard Hatfield, 43, was found in a hotel room in Springdale, Ark., and appeared to have died from a overdose of prescription drugs, police said.
Hatfield wrote "Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President" in 1999. The book cited unnamed sources in claiming that Bush was arrested in 1972 but that his case was expunged. Bush, who was campaigning for president when the book was published, denied the allegations.
Soon after "Fortunate Son" was released by St. Martin's Press, the company discovered that Hatfield had been convicted in 1988 of attempted murder of his former supervisor. It recalled 70,000 copies in October 1999 and left an additional 20,000 books in storage.
Police went to Hatfield's house Tuesday morning to arrest him on charges of credit card fraud, but Hatfield wasn't home, said Detective John Hubbard of the Bentonville, Ark., Police Department.
His body was found around noon Wednesday by a hotel housekeeper. Hatfield left notes for his family and friends that listed alcohol, financial problems and "Fortunate Son" as reasons for killing himself, police said. He is survived by a wife and daughter.
After the book had been dropped by St. Martin's, it was picked up a month and a half later by Soft Skull Press, a small publisher on New York's Lower East Side. Sander Hicks, the head of Soft Skull, said yesterday that he joins the family "in feeling this deep loss."
"He did have a past that he was working very hard to put behind him," Hicks said.
In "Fortunate Son," Hatfield said three unnamed sources claimed a judge had expunged Bush's case and given him community service as a favor to his father, who was ambassador to the United Nations at the time. The incident raised questions of how well publishers screen the credentials of authors and check facts in their books.
Monday July 23, 2001
Dear Friends and Members of the Press,We have been reeling from the news since Friday. Jim Hatfield is gone. In a country where not enough reporters and talking heads have the courage to speak truth to power, Hatfield, the President's most controversial biographer, ended his own life in solitude in an Arkansas motel last week.
I knew Jim. He could be tempestuous, moody and unpredictable. He was also intensely driven, articulate and full of Southern charm. When I spoke with his widow Nancy on Friday, we agreed, "He was a good writer." He was a hell of a fighter and you wanted him on your side. Just last month we spent a weekend together in Chicago on the trade show floor of Book Expo America. He signed books, shook hands, worked the crowd, spoke out, strategized with me and revealed sources. We went non-stop together to promote his Bush biography Fortunate Son. He was fond of quoting Langston Hughes, "I've been insulted, eliminated, locked in, locked out, and left holding the bag. But I am still here."
Like Hughes, Hatfield will live on through his books. Jim's life will not be soon forgotten. The story of Fortunate Son is gravely important. Jim was on the verge of collapse due to financial difficulties, and part of this was due to the failure of this book. The American media followed the trail laid for them: the piercing inquiries into Bush's drug history were diverted into ironic stories about Jim Hatfield's own checkered past. After Hatfield was fed information and then discredited, he faced financial ruin and obscurity. He lost two other book contracts. His death was by his own hand but the causes go deeper. October of 1999 was glorious for him: he celebrated the initial publication of Fortunate Son and the birth of his daughter. But October was shattered by a book burning, a
two-year long media carnival, and the character assassination of Jim Hatfield, an ex convict turned author who had paid his debt to society.
two-year long media carnival, and the character assassination of Jim Hatfield, an ex convict turned author who had paid his debt to society.
Jim Hatfield's death is in part on the hands of an imperious American media establishment that reserves the softest touch money can buy for George W. Bush and all sons of privilege. Jim Hatfield, a working class journalist unannointed by the media elite, was viciously made into an example.
He had a fearlessness that will be missed.
Sander Hicks
CEO
Soft Skull Press, Inc.
CEO
Soft Skull Press, Inc.
for more information on Fortunate Son, please see
http://softskull.com/catalog/hatfield/fortunate_son.html
for my Publisher's Preface, please see
http://softskull.com/catalog/hatfield/fs_karlrove.html
http://softskull.com/catalog/hatfield/fortunate_son.html
for my Publisher's Preface, please see
http://softskull.com/catalog/hatfield/fs_karlrove.html
No comments:
Post a Comment