Book craze

Casey Ressler - Resslin' Around

I was reminded once again that I'm getting older through a book purchase the other day.

I had looked forward to this book being printed, as had thousands others, thanks to the hype being generated around the world. It seemed like you couldn't talk about books without the release of this title coming up in a conversation.

I didn't stand in line like many others had, but I did start reading as soon as I could. The first few chapters breezed by, and then it started getting really good. The main character, you might know, is a wizard of sorts -- always doing the right thing at the right time, or so this character thinks. Huge conflicts blow up in the main character's face in nearly every chapter -- each one threatening to be the end of the character's power -- but with poise and grace, the character manages to escape unscathed every single time.

Of course, I'm talking about Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Before I picked up the book, I thought "Hogwart" was a term for either conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh or former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, "Muggle" referred to Kenneth Starr and "Quidditch" is what she referred to Whitewater as.

After talking to my sister, who has been immersed in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix since the early part of the week, I realized the hype wasn't about Clinton's book after all. None of the 6- to 16-year-old kids who were camped out at the bookstore were there to find out about how she handled her duties as the First Lady. It turned out I was nothing more than a geek waiting for a political book about former First Lady gossip, instead of the fastest-selling book in history -- one that will outsell the Bible 50-1 in Ireland this year.

Older may be better, but in this case, it just means "out of touch." I find the memoirs of one the most influential political leaders more fascinating than a book everyone in the world except for me, evidently, has already read. That's fine -- my daughter will be old enough to start reading all about Harry Potter in a few years, and I'm sure at that time, I'll definitely know that a Hogwart is a school, not a Republican.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor.