Wednesday, September 10, 2008





















Would North Korea ban my book -- or just Sarah Palin?

I just got back from North Korea. Yes, that North Korea. They don't have any internet in North Korea so the first thing I did when I got back to Shenyang, China, was to check my e-mail. I'm here at an internet cafe now.

"Sarah Palin bans books!" read several subject lines in my inbox. And, ironically, two of the 95 books that Palin allegedly banned were written by the very same person who sat next to me on the plane back from North Korea -- Zilpha Keatley Snyder, recipient of three Newberry honor awards and author of 43 children's books, including my daughter Ashley's absolute all-time favorite, "The Egypt Game".

Well, the truth later came out that Palin didn't exactly ban Snyder's books specifically. No, she only asked her local town librarian IF said librarian would ban books if asked to by our Sarah. And when the librarian said that she would not, Palin fired her.

Anyway, what's my point? I wrote a book! And since my book is VERY anti-Bush-Cheney-McCain, I bet you anything that Palin would just love to ban my book too. And I too would just love her to ban my book. Why? Just think of the free publicity my book would get, allowing it to finally become the best-seller that it richly deserves to be.

But would my book ever get banned in North Korea? Who knows. Anything's possible. They gots luxury hotels, tennis courts, bowling alleys, casinos and even GOLF courses in North Korea now. Maybe they'll be getting more freedom of speech there next.

Does anyone besides me find it ironic that the more all of those old-fashioned and stern dictatorships in Asia that we have heard such terrible things about for decades move in the direction of becoming similar to western democracies, the more that America moves rapidly toward becoming like just another Asian dictatorship?

PS: Please buy my book -- and please send a copy of it off to Sarah Palin! It's called "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips for Touring Today's Middle East" and you can order it on Amazon! Cm'on guys, please help North Korea's fledgling tourist industry out. With Palin reducing our democratic institutions to rubble at the rate that she is, Americans will be junketing off to North Korea in droves -- just to get a breath of fresh air!

PPS: Order my book here: http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title/105-6720939-4576426.