Where I Find My Books

Life could be worse. At 11:00pm, there’s "The Daily Show," the nightly satirical look at the news, mostly political, with sufficient background so you can also see the hypocrisy of those who vector themselves for power. Its guest list, in the final third, includes the known and the unknown, almost always pitching their books. What’s unusual here is they have a chance to talk about the subject of their books and it’s always something meaty.

At 11:30, "The Colbert Report," a parody of Bill O’Reilly and his "O’Reilly Factor." It’s a quick-moving, smart program with sharp commentary and a good guest in the last seven minutes. Again, a book and good discussion, with plenty of shared laughter between host and guest.

After that, I get the morning newspapers as they are being printed, check with the college’s overnight crew and then stretch out for the night.

The Daily Show and Colbert Report books? I’ve bought some. TDS has become the "go to" place for authors and Amazon.com reports that sales peak the day after an author appears there. I did my part earlier this week when an astronomer came on to talk about the universe and, not so coincidentally, his book. Amazon.com not only had it, but also another which seemed like a good companion. They may be here by the time you read this.

I have to finish my mug of tea, fetch the newspapers and then, as my brother says, "get horizontal."