Monica’s Book Debut Is an Affair Most Are Shelving

Maybe, when night fell and the nosy reporters and photographers left the bookstores, scores of people slinked out of the shadows and bought Monica Lewinsky’s book. Or maybe--gasp--folks in Ventura County just want to forget her affair to remember.

Whatever the reason, “Monica’s Story” appeared to be far from a bestseller in the county Thursday, the day of its much-promoted debut. Visits to several area bookstores failed to turn up many folks willing to admit they had shelled out $24.95--minus a 10% to 30% discount--for the 288-page heart-spiller.

At the Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Thousand Oaks, copies of “Monica’s Story” were scattered among three nondescript displays that shoppers, for the most part, ignored.

“It’s pathetic. . . . Isn’t everybody sick of this already?” asked Beth Wells of Studio City. “I hope the book just sits there on the shelf and gathers dust.”

The chain’s superstore in Ventura displayed the tell-all only behind its counter, and a worker reported it had sold 10 of its 40 copies by early afternoon. At the B. Dalton Bookseller in Oxnard, about that many copies had been bought--one by a middle-aged man who made a point of saying the book was for his wife.

“Monica’s Story” sat beside the B. Dalton cash register, an “impulse item” placed just a few feet away from “How to Be a Great Lover.” Across the store sat “When Your Lover Is a Liar.”

At 30% off, the white-with-gold hardcover carried the largest discount of any of the bookstore’s offerings, aside from a 75%-off clearance shelf that included guides for Beanie Baby collectors and a tape on how to speak Hindi.

Maureen Mena of Oxnard, who was buying a deeply discounted cookbook for $1.07, said she prefers true crime novels. She called Lewinsky a “slut.”

“I have read some biographies,” Mena said, “but they have to be about somebody who does more than what she does.”

A Fillmore man who would not give his name said he had heard enough about America’s most famous intern and her story.

“I wouldn’t waste my money on that,” said the man, who said he likes to read Westerns.

Joy MacKinnon said she isn’t a literary snob--admitting she reads “junky stuff if I want to escape”--but what the Oxnard dance instructor really wants to escape these days is Monicagate.

“I am one of the few people who meant it when I said I’d had enough after the second week,” said MacKinnon, who was searching for Joyce Carol Oates’ latest work.

Despite the disinterest expressed Thursday by numerous Ventura County book buyers, somebody, somewhere must be buying Lewinsky’s biography. Just hours after its release, her book was already headed for the top of national bestseller lists.

Major online vendors--great for shame-free purchasing--reported Lewinsky’s confessional was their No. 1 seller Thursday. Barnes & Noble’s Web site, for example, reported 2.25 orders per minute.

Likewise, Lewinsky’s chat with Barbara Walters on Wednesday was popular nationally. An estimated 74 million people watched the two-hour interview, second only to the number of people who watched this year’s Super Bowl.

Though short on revelations, “Monica’s Story,” written by Princess Diana biographer Andrew Morton, features color photographs of Lewinsky’s childhood and her time at the White House. Chapter titles include: “He Was Like Rays of Sunshine,” “Everyone Gets a Job With a Little Help” and “Sometimes I Miss Him So Much.”

Lewinsky’s publisher, St. Martin’s Press, said it shipped 450,000 copies of her book and its presses are standing by to print more. Lewinsky could receive about $3 million between her book sales, magazine deals and foreign interviews.

But no copies of her book had reached the Ventura Bookstore on Thursday. The independent shop, which prides itself on its more cerebral selection, had yet to receive the 10 books it had ordered and was not anticipating heavy sales.

“We didn’t sell that many of the Starr Report,” said clerk Harmony Kennedy.

As possible substitutes for “Monica’s Story,” the store displayed “The Techniques of the Love Affair,” “The Cheater’s Handbook,” and “The Erotic Way: Everything You Need from Stories to Playthings for an Amorous, Unforgettable Evening.”

Times staff writer Coll Metcalfe contributed to this story.