Clinton Draws Thousands to Hue-Man

It is deja vu all over again: The month is June, and crowds of thousands are lining up at bookstores and preordering online, frantic to secure copies of a hefty, new hardcover totaling well over 800 pages. Theme parties are held in dozens of bookstores culminating in midnight distribution of "the book" on the eve of the strictly observed laydown date; signed copies are hotter than tickets to baseball's All Star game. But this time the author is not the humbly born British creator of Harry Potter, but the humbly born boyish wizard of American politics, William Jefferson Clinton.

Bill Clinton, former leader of the free world and now author of the bestselling memoir, My Life, published by Knopf, was given a hero's welcome when he arrived at Harlem's Hue-Man Bookstore on Tuesday, June 22, for a well-publicized book signing. Clinton is well-known in the predominantly African-American neighborhood, as a local renter with offices two blocks from Hue-Man, and as that community's most popular modern president.

Supporters outside Harlem's Hue-Man Bookstore.

Photos: Ben Freed

Throngs of supporters filled Frederick Douglas Boulevard at the front entrance to Hue-Man while many of the 2,000 ticket holders stood patiently in line around the corner, awaiting their turn to get their signed copies of My Life from Mr. Clinton.

A hoarse but elated Clara Villarosa, president and managing partner of Hue-Man, told BTW the morning after, "It [the signing] went better than we could have expected. He started signing at about 7:00 p.m. and didn't leave until 11:30 and every single book was signed. Even when he finished, he didn't rush out -- he looked around and told us what a beautiful store it was."

Villarosa, who was the subject of a column in that day's New York Times spoke of the unusual choice made by Clinton's publicity team in selecting a fairly small bookstore in Harlem for the publication day visit. "It's a very special occasion for us," Villarosa told the Times. "We're an African-American specialty store. We are an independent African-American store, owned by four African-American women. What's the likelihood of something like this happening here?"

Those waiting in line were full of praise for both the store and the former president. Many were from the neighborhood and were familiar with the store; others, having prepaid for the book by phone, came for the first time and received their line tickets at the store that same day.

Hermina, a mature nursing home attendant, stood in line despite a long workday and an injured knee, wearing a large button that read, "I Miss Peace, Prosperity, and Clinton." She had also come to the bookstore for Hillary Rodham Clinton's book signing and was very pleased with the store's organized approach to the large crowd. People were assigned numbers when they paid for the book and lined up according to those numbers, eliminating any pushing to the front or line jumping. Hermina spoke for many when she told BTW, "I'm standing here for my president. I don't want to be reminded of the bad things people said about him. I want my grandchildren to read his book and know what a good job the man did."

Another ticket holder, Bridget, a Utah native who moved to New York City three years ago, was slightly embarrassed to admit that, much as she liked Mr. Clinton, she was curious about any details of his dalliances with a certain White House intern. Although she didn't plan to stay up all night and read the book, a la Harry Potter, she was going to peruse her signed copy quickly for any new information about the scandal.

Mr. Clinton arriving at the Hue-Man Bookstore. Photo: Ben Freed

Arriving very close to the scheduled 6:30 p.m. start of the event, Mr. Clinton took his time entering the store, shaking hands, and greeting as many people as possible. The strong police presence and barricades did nothing to inhibit his interactions with the large, exuberant crowd.

(To read more about the well-run event at Hue-Man, click here for a "Letter to the Editor" of BTW.)

Elsewhere, independent bookstores celebrated the release of My Life with authorless events leading up to the 12:01 a.m. release of the book on Tuesday.

On Monday, in Washington, D.C., Politics & Prose Bookstore held an evening of related events, which co-owner Barbara Meade described as "very crowdedly [successful]," involving well over 1,000 people. The evening included an appearance by Justin Frank, author of Bush on the Couch (Regan Books); a 10:00 p.m. panel discussion on the Clinton presidency; and the distribution of 1,987 copies of My Life.

Meade told BTW that on July 6, the date of Clinton's scheduled store appearance, those who purchased copies and received line tickets on Monday night can return to have their copies signed. She also said that the staff worked until 1:30 a.m. on Monday night and that no tickets remained for the July 6 signing.

In Mr. Clinton's true home state of Arkansas, bookseller David Cockcroft, co-owner and manager of Wordsworth Books & Company in Little Rock, reported that many old and faithful friends of the former governor gathered at the store for the pre-midnight release party. "We sold quite a few already," Cockcroft told BTW. "We wanted to order enough to be sure that we had plenty of first editions since the initial print run [of 1.5 million] seemed low to us. We expect this book to have legs." --Nomi Schwartz

A Letter to the Editor

To whom it may concern:

I would like to congratulate Hue-Man Bookstore of Harlem for the wonderful book-signing event it hosted for President Clinton. I was amazed by how organized the event was compared to Barnes & Noble's. I held ticket number 936, and it only took me two hours to get the President's signature on my book.

At Barnes & Noble, 5th Ave. branch, my daughter and I stood in line from 6:30 in the morning till three in the afternoon. It was so disorganized. My feeling was, all they cared about was publicity. People were in line in the pouring rain for hours and hours. People were sneaking up in line, while at Hue-Man, it was like a block party. People were allowed to call the store to find out what number the President was signing, which was a great help for those holding tickets with higher numbers. They went shopping while waiting, instead of standing behind the barricades like at Barnes & Noble. Even the security check and the signing of the books went perfectly smooth and with no chaos.

I am from Queens and it was my first time to travel in the area and it will not be the last. I discovered so many interesting stores, beautiful art deco buildings, and beautiful diverse people.

Hopefully, Barnes & Noble, together with other giant bookstores, will try to learn from Hue-Man's way of setting up a celebrity book signing. It will make life a lot easier for us.

Again, congratulations, Hue-Man Bookstore, for a job well done.

Delia D. Santiago
New York, NY