Obama Wows Crowds at Texas Book Festival

by Edward Nawotka, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 11/3/2006

At this past weekend's Texas Book Festival in Austin, Sen. Barak Obama’s The Audacity of Hope sold more than 1,000 copies, a record for book sales at the event, beating past record holders Bill Clinton and local favorite Barbara Bush.

Obama, who signed 365 copies before heading off to a meeting with Democratic movers and shakers at the Driskill Hotel, opened this year’s festival at a ceremony that honored Austin writer Louis Sachar and Texas Monthly magazine for their contributions to Texas letters. Also on hand for the weekend were Gore Vidal, touring for his new memoir Point to Point Navigation; Richard Ford; Irish novelist Colm Toibin; and Amy Sedaris. Texas favorites Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein drew lots of attention for their new book, Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency.