Bush's Summer Reading List (it's heavy?!)

I don't know if you've seen, but there's been a lot of hullabaloo over this ad (left) from Canadian company Simply Audio Books, which had plastered Bush's image on billboards across Toronto, and is now taking them down in the name of diplomacy. And while we're not in the business of politics and political commentary (we'll leave that to the smarter blogs), it is interesting that Simply Audio Books hasn't been doing their reading. According to The New Yorker, W. spent his free time this summer plowing through 3 heavy reads: Camus' "The Stranger"; Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin's book about Robert Oppenheimer and the invention of the atomic bomb; and a new biography on Abraham Lincoln. Who knew? I'm not sure if he has to turn in a book report to Tony Snow at the end of it all, and I'm certain it's a good PR move publicizing the fact that the American president is sifting through these tomes, but I think the selection of books itself is pretty fascinating—a heavy philosophy book on the origins of human violence; a book revealing the personal struggles of a man devastated because he tarnished the name of science in creating the world's most terrifying weapon; and a biography about a president who agonized over a civil war and its consequences. I really hope that someone can land an interview with the President after the fact, and find out how the readings affected him.