Bush's “Decision Points” Tour Stops in Chicago

Decision Points sold 220,000 copies on first day

President George W. Bush makes his second stop in Chicago in the past few weeks to shill his Oval Office Memoir, "Decision Points."

Two weeks ago he sat down with Oprah Winfrey, today he'll stand before the Union League Club to discuss his presidency.

It's all part of a whirlwind book sales tour that has taken the former president out of seeming seclusion and placed him back in the spotlight.

It appears to be working.

His memoir sold at least 220,000 copies through its first day of release, with more than 20 percent generated by e-book purchases.

Random House Inc. announced Wednesday that opening-day sales, which include preorders and represent 95 percent of accounts reporting, was the publisher's highest for nonfiction since former President Clinton's "My Life" debuted with 400,000 in 2004. Bush's book came out Tuesday with an announced first printing of 1.5 million copies, the same as Clinton's did.

Random House said that e-sales were 50,000 so far, a number unthinkable when "My Life" was published.

"It shows the digital market's rapid growth," said spokesman David Drake of the Crown Publishing Group, a Random House division.

Bush has been actively promoting the book, giving interviews to Matt Lauer, Oprah Winfrey and Sean Hannity among others. On Wednesday, he spoke live with Lauer on NBC's "Today" show and Wednesday night he attended the 27th annual Teen Challenge Banquet at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee. After addressing the Union League Club of Chicago he will speak at a Veteran's Day tribute at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, in Dayton, Ohio.

Reviews so far for "Decision Points" have been mixed, as they were for "My Life" and for virtually all presidential memoirs. The Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henninger wrote that Bush's book "contains delightful and telling personal observations," while Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post found "Decision Points" to be "competent, readable and flat."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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