THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502040032
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
O.J. SIMPSON'S NEW book, ``I Want To Tell You,'' has poured even more juice into America's cup of curiosity about the former superstar's guilt or innocence in the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Simpson calls his book ``my response to your letters, your messages, your questions.'' In it, he talks about racism, spousal abuse, the media and justice.
Since its release Jan. 26, the 208-page hardcover book has been a big seller in Hampton Roads.
``We had 30 of the books, and we sold them all in 24 hours,'' said Karin Tettinger, assistant manager for Waldenbooks in Virginia Beach's Pembroke Mall.
Tettinger said hardbacks usually have a longer shelf life than one day. But Tettinger said he wasn't surprised at the quick sales of ``I Want to Tell You.''
The book, published by Little, Brown and Co., sells for $17.95. The recorded voice of Simpson reading a few passages are on the audiotape of the book, released by Time Warner Audiobooks.
Beth Davey, a spokeswoman for the publisher, told the Associated Press the book had a first printing of 500,000 and has already gone to a second printing of 100,000.
At the beginning of ``I Want To Tell You,'' Simpson says he wrote the book for two reasons: to answer the more than 300,000 letters he has received since he's been in jail and to help pay his increasing court costs.
Most Hampton Roads book store owners and managers said strong sales were expected because of the intense media coverage of the Simpson story, especially the trial.
Ah yes, the trial, which Charlene McNair said she has been watching since it began. And for McNair ``I Want To Tell You,'' is definitely worth reading.
``It's very interesting,'' said McNair, who is a textbook clerk at Wallace's Book Store in Norfolk. ``He talks about things I didn't know, like how he doesn't have the money that everyone seems to thinks he has. But I still haven't made up my mind about whether or not he's guilty or innocent, and after I read the book, I still probably won't know.''
A saleswoman from the Old Hampton Book Store in Hampton, who said she read the book in about two hours, said not to expect Simpson to lean toward guilt or innocence in the book.
``I think people who get it think he's going to say certain things, but he hardly says anything at all.''
Ann Winston, owner of Booklender Ltd. in Virginia Beach, said she couldn't even order the book from her regular distributor in Nashville and had to request an order from California. She said that although her store specializes in lending and not selling books, customers have had no intentions of merely keeping the book for just a few days.
``People wanted to actually buy this book instead of borrow it,'' she said.''
For some people a desire to answer letters and raise money for legal fees wasn't reason enough for Simpson to put his feelings in book stores across America.
David Beall, owner of Riverbend Book Store in Virginia Beach said a button he has that reads: ``So many books, so little time'' explains why he wouldn't bother reading the book.
``I'd read 100 books before I'd read the O.J. Simpson book,'' Beall said. ``But that's just my reading style.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Book jacket]
by CNB