George Bush at his Texas ranch, no doubt
dying to get back to his book. Photograph: AP
The talk on the Guardian Unlimited arts desk today is revolving around one subject: George Bush's holiday reading list. This summer, we are told, the leader of the free world will be curling up with Salt: A World History, Alexander II: the Last Great Tsar and The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History.
There is, of course, just a whisper of a chance that George has been looking forward all year to the moment when he could leave behind the troublesome business of running the White House and finally get to grips with Alexander II's complex and intriguing life-story. Spend just a moment deconstructing his "choice" of titles, however, and one may, perhaps, find oneself inclining to the view that this is a carefully-orchestrated PR stunt designed to improve Bush's standing among his electorate, and the world at large. Who'd have thought it?
First off, there's the endearing implication that underneath it all, our George is an intellectual heavyweight who loves nothing better than settling down after a day's big game shooting with an improving book. The east and west coast literati, his press team are no doubt thinking, will love it. But one doesn't, of course, want to alienate Bush's core support, the good ol' boys who take what can only be termed a Posh-esque approach to literature - so the first title on the list is Salt: A World History, which semantically translates as 'the president is reading about salt; he's salt of the earth; he's a man of the people.'
Having reassured his domestic audience, Bush's second title appears designed to placate the foreigners. A president who relaxes with a book of Russian history can't be as insular as we perceive him to be, surely? Russians will take this as a sign that the US's relations with their country remain friendly; Americans, meanwhile, will be relieved to see that he still doesn't hold with any of that commie nonsense. Double whammy. Finally, with The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, George is demonstrating his determination to get to grips with the current clutch of deadly plagues that are sweeping the globe - AIDS, bird flu, terrorism, whatever. All this, plus the fact that he manages to pack an extremely presidential two "greats", two "histories" and one "epic" into the space of two dozen words. Not bad from three books.
But here in the Vulture's nest, we think we - well, you - can do better. Our mission is to come up with a reading list that is edifying and - bearing in mind that the president's favourite book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar - which Bush might actually have a chance of reading. Suggestions so far include Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots and Leaves, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. What do you suggest?
