Sunday 5 January 2014

Brian, what I love about that picture of your copy of Ultimatum is the spine, where the name of the publisher, “Clarke Irwin,” takes up more space than the title. And leaves barely enough room for “Rohmer.”

You always wonder about the meeting where that kind of thing happens. Where the author sees the first copy dummied up.

"What do you think?"

“Wow… yeah… uh… I couldn’t help but notice that the publisher's name is larger than mine… or the title… uh… is that a selling point?”

Also, I don’t want to brag, but I’ve started reading Ultimatum by Richard Rohmer.

Here's something nitpicky, but I have to say it: When the President leaves the White House, he gets on his “navy helicopter.” The President's helicopter is Marine One, which is, you know, operated by the Marines. The helicopter takes him to Dulles Airport, where he gets on Air Force One, a plane the real President tends to keep at Andrews Air Force Base.

I know it’s a novel, and Rohmer can do what he wants, but it takes you out of it a little.

Later he calls the members of OPEC "the OPEC countries" which I remember was one of those trivial redundancies that drove grammar snobs up the walls.

I like the drawing of Air Force One, though.

Chris

2 comments:

  1. Trivia: Only once has a sitting US President flown on a Navy aircraft, which was temporarily (for the occasion) assigned the callsign Navy One. That occasion was when Bush the Younger flew in an S-3 Viking ASW aircraft to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to give the "Mission Accomplished" speech.

    Many people who've seen video of the speech assumed that the Lincoln was on station in the Persian Gulf. In fact it was at anchor in San Diego harbour at the time. Bush could have just taken a boat.

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  2. That's pretty interesting. Always wondered why the Marines were in charge of the presidential helicopter, while the Air Force was in charge of the plane.

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