CHICAGO — Former President Bill Clinton, kicking off the year's most anticipated book tour, told the country's publishing community Thursday night that his upcoming memoir will "tell the story of my life and how my small life interwove with the American life."
The keynote speaker at BookExpo America, publishing's annual national convention, Clinton noted that as a young man he had set himself the goal of writing a great book.
"I have no earthly idea if this is a great book, but it's a pretty good story," said Clinton, whose memoir, "My Life," comes out June 22 with a first printing of 1.5 million.
No BookExpo guest in memory was so eagerly awaited as Clinton, who received a standing ovation even though he began 30 minutes behind schedule. The line for his speech formed in the late morning and extended the length of several city blocks, winding through the lobby of the McCormick Place Convention Center. The crowd was standing room only in the convention center's ballroom, which has a seating capacity of around 2,700.
Clinton's 45-minute speech started a tour that remains vague in detail, if not in ambition. His literary representative, attorney Robert Barnett, has promised the "mother and father of all rollouts," but so far only a few venues are known.
On June 20, two days before the book comes out, Clinton will be interviewed on "60 Minutes," followed over the next couple of days by television interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Katie Couric.
The book has been in the top 10 of Amazon.com's bestseller list since its publication date was announced in late April.
Clinton's appearance Thursday at BookExpo America marked an ideal pairing of writer and audience, a Democrat addressing a roomful of mostly like-minded voters, a self-described book lover standing before those who depend on the kindness of bibliophiles.
Book packager Jennifer Basye Sander — bearing needlepoint and a good English novel, Dodie Smith's "I Capture the Castle" — arrived hours early to stand in line for Clinton's speech.
"I never got a chance to see him in person when he was president and I wanted to see if it was really true about his charisma. I miss him," said Sander, who is based in Granite Bay, Calif.
Behind Sander was librarian Michelle B. Graye, from the Tucson-Pima (Ariz.) Public Library.
"We bought 100 copies of his books and I want to make sure he's worth it," said Graye, who said they ordered just 75 copies of "Living History," the memoirs of the former president's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"This is the longest I've ever stood on line for anybody. I went to see Clay Aiken recently and I only waited two hours for that."