Barack Obama and John McCain share a favorite author

Barack Obama and John McCain may differ on everything from U.S. policy in Iraq to how many town hall debates they should schedule but -- who would have thought? -- they share reading tastes.

McCain long has pinpointed Ernest Hemingway's 1940 novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as his favorite book (for more on the presumptive Republican nominee's favorite things, see this profile).

Obama, in a just-published interview with Rolling Stone co-founder and publisher Jann Wenner, names "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as one of the three books that have inspired him.

The two others -- Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" and, in an answer that deftly expanded the scope of the question, the tragedies of William Shakespeare.

The interview is teased here, with readers advised to read it all in the magazine's new issue. But the full text was e-mailed to the media, and Wenner sure wasn't trying to put Obama on the spot, as the final exchange illustrates:

Wenner: "Good luck. We are following you daily with great hope and admiration."

Obama: "We're going to get this done."

Ben Smith at Politico.com notes that Wenner also publishes US Weekly, which recently featured Obama and his wife on its cover (see this post on the Chicago Tribune's Swamp blog). That prompts Smith to predict an Obama-related cover next on the "Wenner-owned Men's Journal."

A fair amount of the interview focused on the candidate's musical tastes and what's on his iPod, prompting items on our own sisterly Technology blog here at LATimes.com and over at the Swamp.

We were also struck by Obama's answer when Wenner asked what he had learned about himself during the campaign, a response that can be seen as self-serving or self-revelatory (probably it's a mixture of both). Said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee:

"I've learned two things, and I think these two things are connected. One is that the older I get, the less important feeding my vanity becomes. I've discovered that I don't get a lot of satisfaction from being the center of attention, but I do get a lot of satisfaction about getting work done.

"And that, in turn, has led to a confirmation that I have a very steady temper. I don't get too high when things are high, I don't get too low when things are low, which has been very helpful during this campaign and is reflected in the people I hire and how we run our organization."

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: A.E. Hotchner / For the Associated Press

Comments

[Brian Randall]

More importantly, well, let's say, equally importantly, since it is election season after all and this is not Oprah's Book Club, do LA's finest literary giants Don and Andy share a favorite author? Other than Ron Paul that is.

For history buffs and political junkies with sore sun-soaked eyes (i.e. Ralph Nader who reportedly reads 10 books a week), I would recommend listening to THE REVOLUTION: A MANIFESTO. An eye-opening excursion.

I'll have to remember Obama's answers if I ever decide to return to corporate America and put myself through the psychological ringer. The HR interview is always uncomfortable for me since I don't feel real comfortable blowing my own horn and I hate walking around in a suit. That's part of the game though.

[dave]

what to make of the information that mccain's (and obama's) literary hero is an emotionally disturbed, embittered and suicidal man of mediocre intelligence and ability who, lacking orientation and more valiant goals in life, would doggedly devote himself to terrorist assignments like blowing up bridges in foreign countries?

[dave]

'distracted even by a single blade of grass, a lamb is easily defeated, and can be caught off guard while dreaming of lush green pastures.'

ba-rok-hu-sas-ein-ab-oma the 'mothman', the 'spittlebug': set up to complete a shift of paradigm. the mission: to destroy and erase from within, the bridge that still affords america, as a whole nation, to return to freedom - by way of the CONSTITUTION. the strategy and goal: to completely alienate the people from the intentions and provisions, of the nation's founding fathers, and turn the country into yet another, 'fatherless' corporate fascist state; incorporated into the supreme rule and law of the 'mother' of all deception, masked as liberation, and victory - known as the global nwo; to rule by tyranny, and brute force of power. (mccain and obama, not coincidentally, share a suicidal literary hero, who also shares this perverse passion, to blow up bridges, in a country he does not care for, and to no good end). RON PAUL is the only candidate for president qualified and willing to correct the desastrous course, and to protect the inalienable rights, the invaluable birthright of all free people, that cannot be stolen without their informed consent; and that cannot be sold, but in exchange for perpetual slavery and shame.

'democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner tonight. freedom is a well-armed lamb.'
- benjamin franklin