"There's not a sex act mentioned in this book."

Carl Bernstein on his A Woman In Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Oh well, there goes the potential Religious Right sales.

Still, patient and cheap internet surfers should fairly soon be able to read all of Bernstein's new book on Saint Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, web site by book-pluging web site. MSNBC excerpts Little Hillary's childhood. Today's Washington Post runs an extract covering Young Hillary's voyage of self discovery from Wellesley to Little Rock, including tidbits of her early experiences with Our Man Bill. Meanwhile, across the pond, Bernstein holds forth in the Sunday Times (of London) about the "other man" in Hillary's life, the late Vince Foster. There's probably more out there already, too, but life is short.

Bernstein has been a less prolific writer than his former Watergate confrere, Bob Woodward, whose cottage industry as the visible ghostwriter of autohagiographies about the rich and powerful has made him a rich and powerful celebrity in his own right. On the other hand, Woodward has never been the subject of a cinematic roman à clef by Nora Ephron.

Bernstein has claimed to be ambivalent about H.R. Clinton and, of course, to have written a balanced, thorough and fair account of her life. The Hilly-Billy Clan has just as predictably reacted to his recounting of the many stormy, seedy, shady and suspicious episodes of that life so far as, you guessed it, old news. “They know better than that. There are 25 front-page stories in this book,” Bernstein replied.

Doubtlessly, one or more at a time, we'll soon be able to read them all.