Book TV

I sometimes listen to CNN's Book TV on the weekends because I am a big fan of non-fiction books. Anyone who can write a whole book on a small topic has my admiration. Book TV has got to be the cheapest show to produce - all it is is a stationary camera pointed at a speaker at a podium talking about his or her book. You would think that since the production costs are low, new writers would be featured all the time - heaven knows thousands of books are written every year on hundreds of different topics by authors who want to sell their books. Instead, they have had David Brooks reruns on at least three times, Peter Schweizer on Do As I Say (Not As I Do), a liberal bashing book at least four times, etc. I'll listen to them once.

Now we know CNN is a conservative mouthpiece and we know Reagan got rid of the fairness doctrine so the other side does not get equal time, but would it be too much trouble to just forget about politics on this one cheap show and let people promote books on some other subjects? If not that, please stop the reruns so more writers could get a chance. I've already heard Schweizer complain about how Barbra Steisand has an air-conditioned barn and Michael Moore has a portfolio of stock including some in Halliburton (money not taken from the public trust). Or David Brooks claiming that people who deal with numbers become Republicans and people who deal in paragraphs become Democrats, as though bankers are superior to writers. How about some new blood?