Ponnuru denied that that was his main focus, writing:
Franke-Ruta mentions my forthcoming book The Party of Death, which she describes as a "book on Democrats." The book does have quite a bit to say about the Democrats, and it's tough on them. But the book is about more than that, and the title isn't meant as a pejorative term for the Democrats. I explain, mostly in the introduction, what I mean and don't mean by the phrase. I'm not saying this to complain about Franke-Ruta. It was nice of her to mention the book, and her assumption was an easy one to make, partly because the Amazon page on the book is a bit misleading. (I've tried to get Amazon to change it a few times.)Now an observant reader writes: "You might wish to note, in light of Ponnuru's post, that the longer subtitle on Amazon (The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life) also seems to be the one [that] appears on the cover mock-up on the Regnery web site. Has he "tried to get Regnery to change it a few times," too?"
Over to you, Ramesh: Is the publisher getting it wrong, too? Because if you scroll down to the bottom of the Regnery New & Noteworthy page, Ponnuru's book is pictured right below the mock-up for The Official Handbook of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy 2006, and though in very small print, the featured title sure looks to be: The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life.
Barnesandnoble.com, for what it's worth, also lists the book as The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life, and, in its "From the Publisher" book note includes this description: "Ponnuru details how the party of death took over the Democratic party." Now, I'm willing to believe the publisher sent that out wrong, too, but, if that's the case, Regnery's marketing department is really not doing Ponnuru any favors. So here's to hoping he at least got a good edit.
--Garance Franke-Ruta
