Reflections on an Odd Life

On Exceeding Expectations

On my panel today at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival, I was the only one of the four panelists who got neither booed nor cheered upon introduction, which I would like to attribute to being markedly less known than the other three: Conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, former Bush speechwriter and National Review-r David Frum, and liberal talk radio host Rob Scheer. The most amusing part of the panel reaction was the “soft bigotry of low expectations” inherent in people’s comments to me afterwards—they all went something like: “Great panel. Wow you really held your own in that group!” Gee, thanks for thinking that I was going to get bowled over and that Hewitt and Frum would wax the floor with me.