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Romanians wait to get
autographs from former U.S. President Bill Clinton in Bucharest, Romania May
21, 2005. Clinton launched the Romanian edition of his
book 'My Life' on Saturday. (REUTERS/Bogdan
Cristel) | |
In the paperback edition of "My Life,"
former President Clinton acknowledges that his memoir may have been too
long, recounts some friendly faces from his book tour and some odder ones
sighted under the influence of anesthesia
as he underwent heart surgery
last September.
"At first I saw a series of dark faces, like
death masks , flying toward
me and being crushed," writes Clinton, whose book comes out May 31 in both
trade and mass market paperback. "Then I saw circles of light with the
faces of Hillary, Chelsea, and others I cared about flying toward me, then
away into a bright, sun-like source."
When Clinton regained consciousness after surgery, he "waved to people,
said I was all right, and laughed." At least, that's what his wife, Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, told him. The former president himself doesn't
remember.
"My Life" has sold just under 2.2 million copies
in its 957-page hardcover
edition, and interest apparently is strong for the paperback.
The trade paperback, which has the same dimensions as hardcover, will have
a first printing of 300,000 to 50,000 copies more than originally
announced. The mass market paperback, a cheaper, pocket-sized edition,
will have two volumes, the first with a printing of 600,000, the second in
late June at 575,000.
Much of the new material --- a 12-page afterword, and a brief preface
--- summarizes Clinton's recent activities, from the building of his
presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., to raising money for Tsunami
victims. He also offers a quick analysis of last year's presidential
election.
Clinton acknowledges complaints about the book's
length and names a possible culprit
, his wife. He calls the senator's memoirs, "Living
History," a "fine book" and says that her success "added to the pressure"
for him to meet a June 2004 deadline.
"Most people thought it was too long - a fair criticism. Thomas
Jefferson once said that if he had had more time he could have written
shorter letters," writes Clinton, whose afterword helps make the trade
paperback even longer, 969 pages.
Many reviewers were bored by "My Life." The Associated Press likening
it to being trapped
"in a small room with a very gregarious man who insists on reading
his entire appointment book, day by day, beginning in
1946."
(Agencies) |
美國前總統克林頓在平裝版《我的生活》中首次公開承認自己的回憶錄可能寫得太長了。他還在平裝版中提到了為該書做宣傳途中見到的一些友善的人，以及他在去年九月接受心臟手術時，因為麻醉而看到的一些奇怪的面孔。
《我的生活》的普及式平裝本和大眾式平裝本將于5月31號同時上市。克林頓在書中寫到：“我先看到一些像死神面具一樣的黑臉，它們向我飛來，接著又被碾碎。后來我看到了希拉里、切爾西和其他我關心的人的臉，這些人的臉上都閃著光環，并向我飛來，之后又飛走了，飛進一個太陽似的光源里。”
手術結束后，克林頓恢復了知覺，他“向人們揮手致意，說我很好，接著就笑了。”希拉里告訴克林頓說至少這也是他生活的一部分，而克林頓自己卻不記得了。
957頁的精裝版《我的生活》只賣了不到220萬本。顯然，人們對平裝版的興趣更大些。普及式平裝版與精裝版的大小相同，第一次將印刷30到50萬本，比最初公布的數字要多。大眾式平裝版是分上下兩冊的口袋書，價錢要便宜些。第一次印刷60萬冊，第二次印刷定在七月末，印數為57萬5千冊。
書中加入了一些新內容——一篇12頁的后記和一篇簡短的前言——概述了克林頓最近的活動，從在阿肯色州的小石鎮建造他的總統圖書館到為海嘯受難者籌款。他還對去年的總統大選做了一個簡要的分析。
克林頓承認有人抱怨自己的書過長，但他說罪魁禍首可能就是她的妻子。他稱希拉里的回憶錄《親歷歷史》是一本好書，并說她的成功增加了他必須在2004年7月前交稿的壓力。
克林頓在后記中寫道：“大部分人認為這本書太長——批評的有理。托馬斯·杰斐遜曾經說過，如果時間充足的話，他的信會寫得更短些。”但是《我的生活》的普及式平裝版卻因為后記而更長了，有969頁。
許多評論家都覺得《我的生活》非常無聊。美聯社還打了一個比方，說讀這本書就像被關在一個小屋子里，旁邊還有一個喋喋不休的家伙每天給你讀他的日程記錄，還是從1946年開始的。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2005-05-24 10:31
