Rethinking 'Spitzenfreude'

Before Daniel Gross publishes cheap shots against others it might be smart for him to do some reporting first. Because if he took a minute to call me and ask how I was hyping my book amid Spitzer's downfall, and whether my sourcing was as limited as he suggests, I would have suggested the following:

1-Check the Newsweek review of my book.
2-Speak to some of the people on Wall Street who would tell you I spoke to dozens of people from Dick Grasso to Ken Langone to Spitzer himself.
3-Check the end notes; they will point you to numerous sources including documents and depositions
4-Read the book. (I bet he hasn't.)
5-And then check with his colleague Susanna Schrobsdorff of Newsweek who in the spirit of hype, asked me if I was interested in writing a column about Spitzer for Newsweek.
6-Then point out that Newsweek writers are notorious for hyping books on radio and television including Imus's radio show and just about anywhere else they could appear.

The real question is whether Dan Gross or his Newsweek editors would have had the guts to run Gross's cheap shot if I had indeed written the column that was proposed?

© 2008