People Week in Review: Obama fever sets alight book sales

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Nov 9, 2008 | by Gieson Cacho

Barack Obama, not satisfied with dominating television screens this week, has turned his sights to the best-sellers list. The president-elect is now the hottest name in publishing.

On the weekend after he became the country's first black president-elect, Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams from My Father," both already million sellers, ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Both hardcover and paperback editions of "Audacity of Hope" were out of stock Sunday on Amazon.

Sales are up even in Arizona, home state of Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.

"People are generally much happier this week than they were last week," Gayle Shanks, co-owner of the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, said Sunday.

Demand also has surged for "Change We Can Believe In," a collection of Obama's speeches and policy proposals that had been selling modestly; for "Barack Obama in His Own Words" and for such works about him as "Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope," a children's book by Nikki Grimes, and Robert Kuttner's "Obama's Challenge," a call for a sweeping, progressive economic agenda.

TEEN IS SEW A TRENDSETTER: She was a girl quarterback in "The Longshots," a reluctant school spelling champ in "Akeelah and the Bee" and a rope-skipping double Dutch competitor in "Jump In!"

Now teen actress Keke Palmer can add fashionista to her repertoire.

As the star of "True Jackson, VP," she plays a 15-year-old fashion maven who, to the chagrin of her older co-workers, lands a job as head of a major label's youth division.

The series suddenly has Palmer paying attention to labels and designers.

"Before, I was just like, 'Anything that looks good, throw it on,'" she laughed.

Although still not a fashion expert, the 15-year-old says she otherwise isn't that different from her character.

"She's a lot like me," she says of True Jackson. "She's persistent and hardworking and doing an adult job at a young age."

The show makes it debut Saturday on the Nickelodeon cable network.

DETAILS ON WOOD-MANSON BREAKUP: Evan Rachel Wood is hopping mad about reports of her split from her dark prince Marilyn Manson.

According to People.com., she's trying to clear the air, telling the magazine on Friday that "Manson and I both decided to take some time apart so we could concentrate on work. Someone used that opportunity to kick us while we were down and sell a completely false story."

This contradicts rumors saying that she and Manson broke up because she kicked her brother, Ira, out of the guesthouse. Who should we believe? Personally, I like the second story better. It sounds a lot juicier.

KANYE RELIEVED TO BE IN EUROPE: Hip-hop star Kanye West had trouble with the bathroom at the MTV Europe Awards last week, according to Dlisted.

The potty emergency? Apparently, he couldn't bother getting up and finding a toilet, so he did what any rational person would do. He dropped everything and decided to pee on the carpet.

The Ting Tings, the band he was sharing the dressing room with, were not pleased. I would say they were, ahem, not too happy about it.

Today's People Column was compiled by Gieson Cacho from staff and news service reports. Questions? Comments? Reach him at 925-943- 8262 or gcacho@bayareanewsgroup.com.TODAY IN HISTORY

On Nov. 10, 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps was organized under authority of the Continental Congress.

On this date:

In 1871, journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley found Scottish missionary David Livingstone, who had not been heard from for years, near Lake Tanganyika in central Africa.

In 1928, Japan's Emperor Hirohito was formally enthroned, almost two years after his ascension.

In 1938, Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on her CBS radio program, which aired on Thursdays.

In 1938, Turkish statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in Istanbul at age 57.

In 1954, the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, depicting the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, was dedicated by President Eisenhower in Arlington, Va.

In 1969, the children's educational program "Sesame Street" made its debut on National Educational Television (later PBS).

In 1975, the ore-hauling ship SS Edmund Fitzgerald and its crew of 29 vanished during a storm in Lake Superior.

In 1982, Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev died at age 75.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Russell Johnson (84); film composer Ennio Morricone (80); blues singer Bobby Rush (74); actor Albert Hall (71); country singer Donna Fargo (67); lyricist Tim Rice (64); actress Alaina Reed Hall (62); rock singer-musician Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (61); actress-dancer Ann Reinking (59); actor Jack Scalia (57); movie director Roland Emmerich (53); actor Matt Craven (52); actor- comedian Sinbad (52); actress Mackenzie Phillips (49); author Neil Gaiman (48); actor-comedian Tommy Davidson (45); actor Michael Jai White (44); country singer Chris Cagle (40); actor-comedian Tracy Morgan (40); actress Ellen Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy" (39); rapper- producer Warren G (38); rock singer-musician Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World (33); actress Brittany Murphy (31); rapper Eve (30); rock musician Chris Jannou of Silverchair (29); actor Bryan Neal is 28; actress Heather Matarazzo is 26; country singer Miranda Lambert is 25; actor Josh Peck (22).