MOLI VIEW™

If you're thinking about buying Bill Clinton's new book Giving, donate the $25 to relief for survivors of Hurricane Felix instead. Since leaving office, the charismatic former president has energized do-gooders around the world through the example of his William J. Clinton Foundation and, since 2005, through the members-only appeal of his Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. So a book on "how each of us can change the world," as the subtitle promises, makes sense, right?
What's wrong about Giving was clear at a book-signing yesterday at the Coral Gables, Florida, book shop Books and Books. To avoid a mob scene like the one that greeted Clinton's last appearance at the store for his autobiography My Life, the B&B and Clinton staff devised a voucher system, requiring fans to pay for the book ahead of time, then return with the receipt before 8:00 a.m. on Thursday and wait in line for a copy, signed by the great man as they watched.
This was an exceptionally well-organized process that drew necessarily well-organized and well-heeled supporters. Pay more than 25 bucks (including tax), make two trips, get up around 6 in the morning, want to change the world — no riff raff here. B&B rewarded the orderly fans' efforts by sending staff around the block in the hot Florida sun to distribute bottles of water (doh, bottles! — but how else to keep people hydrated under these circumstances) followed by a woman collecting trash, followed by another woman with a paper bag collecting recyclables for those who balked at throwing water bottles in the trash.

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