Book news
Joseph Biden has a busy schedule over the next few days as he promotes his just-published autobiography -- and in the process tries to energize his presidential campaign.
Biden got strong reviews for his performance in last week's CNN/YouTube debate, and he boasts especially impressive foreign policy credentials. But in virtually every expert prediction of how the Democratic race might play out, he remains an afterthought.
The main buzz around him has been that he would be a prime contender for secretary of State in a Democratic administration. The New York Observer wrote up such speculation in June; the New York Times followed with a similar piece on Sunday.
Biden began the media blitz that ostensibly plugs his new book, "Promises to Keep," with an appearance this morning on the "Today Show." Tonight he'll drop by the "Late Show with David Letterman." And over the next couple of days he's scheduled to pop up on talk shows on CBS, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and National Public Radio.
The senator from Delaware, however, isn't alone these days in hawking a book aimed at political junkies. In all-important Iowa, the executive director of the state Republican Party decided to try his hand at fiction. The result: "Stand and Deliver," a novel focused on the Iowa caucuses (well, it's often been said that all the great themes in literature have been taken).
Chuck Laudner recently told a political blogger for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that his book depicted "a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes and the decision-making process and the mistakes that are made” as a gaggle of make-believe GOP presidential contenders campaign in the state.
The author may have limited his audience a bit; according to the state party's website, all proceeds from the novel's sale -- the cost is $25 -- will go to help Republicans "take back control of the Iowa Legislature."
Somehow, we don't think Laudner will be trailing Biden on the talk-show circuit.
-- Don Frederick
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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