Has there ever been a more compulsively didactic politician than the onetime Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich? With plenty of time on his hands now that he isn't leading a revolution in Washington, Gingrich is reading a lot of books. When the spirit moves him, which apparently is quite often, he lets the world know of his literary assessments by posting comments in the Amazon.com customer review section. As first reported by Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam, Gingrich "is quick on the draw with pithy, 500-word reviews. He will never be confused with Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, but he knows what he likes, even if he sometimes has trouble articulating it." Beam then quotes a Gingrich review of John Sandford's "Prey" series: "I actually cannot tell you precisely why I like these books so much, which may be the greatest testimonial I can give them as simply good reads."

"I read two to four books a week depending on how hard they are," Gingrich told Beam. "I read light fiction very quickly but read physics or complicated management theory much slower."

For those seeking further edification, Gingrich's collected book reviews are available, of course, on his Web site, www.newt.org.