Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Candidates' Favorite Books

In response to a question by Katie Couric, both candidates have revealed their favorite books. McCain chose Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Obama chose Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. We shouldn't be naive enough to think these books, although plenty worthy, are actually the candidates' favorites. They are more likely carefully considered, strategic choices.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you're right - those books were chosen as part of a campaign strategy.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you're right that those books are part of a strategy, but I don't doubt that Obama really loves Toni Morrison's work. I saw him speak to a group of teachers more than a year before announced his bid for the White House (whether or not Song of Solomon is his favorite book). He was asked what his favorite books were as a child (Where the Wild Thing Are is one of them). He then answered a question about school funding, shook hands with the other people on the stage, and went to leave. He suddenly ran back to the microphone and told us, "and if your students are in high school, tell them I really love Toni Morrison" or something to that effect. I loved that he was passionate enough about reading to be convicted to run back and share that with us.

Anonymous said...

Yeah!! Love to know about their favorite books...