POLITICS BUZZ – The former White House press secretary’s new tell-all book, What Happened, comes out on Monday, and is already generating a lot of press.There will be a lot of punditry today about whether the book’s revelations say anything new or meaningful, but our favorite excerpt being passed around the blogs is McClellan’s reporting that Bush admitted he’s unable to remember if he did cocaine or not in his younger days: “You know, the truth is I honestly don’t remember whether I tried it or not. We had some pretty wild parties back in the day, and I just don’t remember.”

The Best Links:

1. Scotty Pleads For History to Remember Him as Misled
2. “McClellan Shocker: Bush Too Drunk to Remember How Much Cocaine He Did”
3. Why Does McClellan Needs Us to Know He Still “Likes” Bush?
4. A Striking Criticism From a Former Bush Supporter
5. From Puppet to “Left-Wing Blogger” in One Fell Swoop!
6. Commenters Weigh In

CULTURE BUZZ – A new book from New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker about our relationship with the brands we consume.Design and marketing blogs are excited about the book — due out next month — and there are a few sample chapters available online.

The Best Links:

1. Buying In: A Sneak Peak of the Book
2. Walker’s Blog: murketing
3. Book Review: “Buying In”
4. “A fantastic read for anyone engaged in brands”
5. “His theory is that we have a deep relationship and dialogue with the products we consume.”
6. Interview with Rob Walker

POLITICS BUZZ – Arianna Huffington’s new book exposes the “Lunatic Fringe” of the Republican Party.What happens when the right wing’s “Lunatic Fringe” takes control of the government? Find out in Arianna Huffington’s new book, “Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe.” It makes the whole Obama Vs. Clinton fight look silly when the alternative is four more years of the lunatic fringe in power.

The Best Links:

1. Right Wing’s “Lunatic Fringe” Gets Mainstream Attention on ABC’s 20/20
2. Official Site of the Anti-Lunatic Fringe
3. The Lunatic Fringe Book: “Right Is Wrong” on Amazon
4. San Francisco Chronicle On the “Lunatic Fringe”, Arianna’s Crusade, and the Huffington Post
5. Lunatic Fringe Definition: “The Fanatical, Extremist, Or Irrational Members of a Society Or Group”

CULTURE BUZZ – A professor dying of pancreatic cancer gives a final lecture for his kids.The video was huge last fall; now it’s coming our in a book version. But if you don’t like to read, you can still see video of the lecture here.

The Best Links:

1. Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
2. Randy Pausch Has Passed Away
3. Speaking Only to the Children
4. Why Don’t We Do More for Pancreatic Cancer Research?
5. But “The Last Lecture” Here
6. Here Comes the Booking From the Amazing Lecture
7. An Interview With Randy Pausch: “Dealing with Bad News”
8. Randy Pausch’s Home Page
9. The Last Lecture Official Site
10. Updates on Pausch’s Health Status

CULTURE BUZZ – New York City’s most popular publicist’s first book, I Was Told There’d Be Cake, is receiving lots of attention and the requisite amount of backlash.She’s been praised by some big names and has become fodder for the snark mongers. We’re pretty impressed by the detailed dioramas she made to accompany her stories on her website.

The Best Links:

1. Sloane Crosley Official Site
2. An Essay from The Book “The Best-laid Plans”
3. Sloane Crosley’s writing makes me sleepy
4. The New York Observer Really Really Loves Sloane Crosley
5. Sloane Crosley’s Lesson in Self-Effacement [Making It]
6. “Boring and Trifling”: A Salon.com Reader On Sloane Crosley’s Essay The Best Laid Plans
7. Why I Want to Hate Sloane Crosley…but Can’t Actually Seem to
8. Crosley’s Essay: I Am Not a Piece of Candy Twisted Symmetrically at the Ends
9. Daily Candy Thinks She “Takes the Cake”

CULTURE BUZZ – The new novel, by author Graham Rawle, is composed entirely of phrases clipped from women’s magazines of the ’60s.It’s not just a novelty book - it tells the story of fashion-loving Norma Fontaine, who turns out much more than she seems - though it does read, visually, a bit like a lengthy ransom note.

The Best Links:

1. “This project suggests an author with a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder.”
2. “Woman’s World: A Novel” by Graham Rawle
3. What “Woman’s World” Looks Like
4. Jezebel’s Book Of The Month Club Selection