Kurt Andersen

In an NPR interview yesterday, Hillary Clinton was asked whether she was “willing to win ugly.” Instead of answering, she complained that the premise of the question represented “a double standard,” since Barack Obama is not being asked whether he will fight dirty to get the support of superdelegates necessary to win the nomination. “He has [only] a slight lead,” she said.

Every time I hear that piece of Clinton campaign spin — that Obama’s lead is small or slim or slight — I wonder: in what arithmetical universe? Of the pledged delegates elected so far, Obama leads 53% to 47%. After the remaining primaries and caucuses, that lead might be reduced to 52%-48%. In no election I know about has a margin of four or six percent ever been considered “slight.”

On Friday the New York Public Library announced their list of the 25 best books of the year. Among the eleven 2007 novels honored were those by Jim Crace, Junot Diaz, Denis Johnson, David Leavitt, Edmund White…and — holy cow! — me, for Heyday. And this week the Langum Charitable Trust is announcing that Heyday has won their annual Langum Prize for the best historical fiction of 2007.

As one of my daughters said about the news, “Woo-hoo!” (And as another artist said in 1985, “I haven’t had an orthodox career, and I’ve wanted more than anything to have your respect…I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!”)