Kitty in the Bushes

by Daisy Maryles -- Publishers Weekly, 9/27/2004

Kitty Kelley's The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty hits the #1 spot on the hardcover list after less than a week in the stores. Doubleday launched the book with a 600,000-copy printing and has already gone back to press twice, bringing the total in print to 722,500. Considering the stakes in the upcoming presidential election and the unflattering portrait

Kelley paints of Dubya (including an account of his cocaine use during his father's presidency), it's no surprise that the White House has issued statements discrediting the book. Tons of early publicity for the book included three consecutive interviews on The Today Show (during which Kelley more than held her own against the ferocious assault of Matt Lauer); Hardball with Chris Matthews; CNN's Newsnight, American Morning and Lou Dobbs; NPR's Diane Rehm; and Air America's Al Franken Show. These appearances were supplemented with print feature interviews. In addition to a series of book parties and bookstore events in New York and Washington, D.C., Kelley will visit Boston, Austin, Tex., and Florida, where she will give presentations at Books & Books in Coral Gables and at Sarasota News & Books the week before the presidential election.