Will anyone read Greenspan's book?

MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman believes that people in New York and Washington will read the book being planned by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. But he wonders about the rest of the country, noting that writing about economic policy is typically a recipe for a snore fest.

Friedman writes, “I also remember how my eyes glazed over during Greenspan’s deathly dull speeches when I watched them on CNBC. His monotonous voice droned on and on and on and, yes, on some more. Even if his words had value, Greenspan’s delivery was so unappealing that I turned the channel before too long.

“If Greenspan’s writing style turns out to be anything like his public speaking style since he became Fed chairman in 1987, the book could be a real snoozer.

“It will be a chore for Greenspan, his ghost writer and publicity machine to make his proclamations seem interesting on paper.”

Later, Friedman adds, “But will he play in Peoria? I kind of doubt it. I’m not an elitist but I don’t envision anyone outside of hard-core finance professionals in the heartland snapping up the book, too. But will there be enough buyers to justify a publisher’s gargantuan investment?

“The New York Post estimated that Greenspan’s book will fetch about $9 million, which would mean it gets the second-biggest advance in nonfiction history. Only Bill Clinton’s ‘My Story’ had a higher advance, somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 million.”

Read Friedman’s column here.

He left out one group that might be interested in reading the book: All of those economics reporters in the country. Now that’s a fun group at parties.