Obama as literary critic

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By Kelly Jane Torrance

President Obama recently told the New York Times Magazine that he had become "sick enough of briefing books to begin reading a novel in the evenings — 'Netherland,' by Joseph O'Neill."

The news that the president was tackling a piece of literary fiction immediately sparked an upswing in demand for the novel, whose author was awarded the PEN/Faulkner Award in Washington on Saturday. Sales increased 40 percent, and Vintage Books moved up the paperback release a month, from June 2 to May 7, going back to press for a second printing even before publication.

Might the popular president find himself a literary tastemaker, too? And could the image of a well-read writer-president help further his goal of rehabilitating America's image in Europe and beyond?

Mr. O'Neill was flattered to discover the president was reading his book. "It's slightly unreal, isn't it? Suddenly there's no space between you and the president, and that's a very, very odd feeling," he says. "For this brief moment, this novel swims in a very strong current of history, essentially, which is usually reserved for much bigger fish."

The author, an Irish immigrant of half-Irish, half-Turkish ancestry who grew up in the Netherlands and lives in New York, became an American citizen just in time to vote for Mr. Obama in the Democratic primary. He adds, though, "I don't believe in the excessive veneration of the president. This is not a demigod… I'm thrilled about it but don't want to be seen to be brainlessly awestruck by the whole thing."

Mr. Obama implied that he had picked up the book as a means of escape. University of Texas government professor Bruce Buchanan suspects he was trying to send the message he still leads a normal life.

"Almost always, there's going to be forethought whether and why to mention what they're reading," Mr. Buchanan says. "All of them know that anything they mention will be interpreted to death."

In fact, a look at "Netherland" suggests Mr. Obama might have more deliberate reasons for citing the book. The novel is about a Dutch banker living in Manhattan whose marriage to a Brit starts to crumble in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The former Londoner finds solace in the discovery of a cricket community among West Indian and South Asian immigrants.

It's no stretch to suspect Mr. Obama might connect to a multicultural tale written by a multicultural writer. He also might want to send a nod to the Muslim world to which he already reached out with his first television interview.

"My book really touches on the marginalized world," Mr. O'Neill says. "Cultural and ethnic boundaries are under threat in my novel, as they are in the real world. In many ways, President Obama would probably find the book kind of ideologically familiar. It describes a world in which rigid identities are transcended. There's also a question of intellectual identity. The fossilization of identity and power is something he's against."