The “Inside the List” column for the New York Times’s Sunday Book Review, compiled by Jennifer Schuessler, discussed Ann Coulter’s latest New York Times bestseller “Demonic” under the subhead “Woman In Black.”
The first paragraph of the Times’ official Topics page for Coulter describes the author as “ultraconservative,” and Schuessler’s Book Review brief is no less loaded:
When Ann Coulter last appeared on the hardcover nonfiction list in 2009, with “Guilty: Liberal ‘Victims’ and Their Assault on America,” some commentators asked whether the conservative attack dog had lost a bit of her sales bite. “Guilty” spent six weeks on the list -- an enviable showing by most standards, but a decline from the mark set by “Godless” (12 weeks), “Treason” (13 weeks) and “Slander” (15 weeks).
Now, Coulter comes roaring back with “Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America,” new at No. 2, though her brand does seem to have undergone a bit of tweaking....Alas, the redesign went over less well at National Review Online, where commenters invoked Nigel Tufnel nattering about his all-black album cover in “This Is Spinal Tap,” among other problems. “What I see at least is a flat black cover, that from any distance greater than a foot will proclaim: ‘Demonic Ann Coulter,’ ” one commenter said. “I.e., Christmas comes early for ‘The Daily Show.’”
That review of what online commenters are saying about Coulter’s book cover apparently comes in lieu of an actual book review; Times archives are almost bereft of actual reviews of Coulter’s books, even as Schuessler admits that they routinely make the paper's bestseller list. The Times has even published reviews of anti-Coulter books. But as Coulter wrote in a column last week, “With only one review -- not in the Book Review -- after eight New York Times best-sellers, the editors can rest assured that I know they don't like me.”
The Times has a problem with reviewing conservative books in general.
