BARNES & NOBLE OR BUST

Thursday, May 25, 1995
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What do Newt Gingrich and Stephen King have in common? Mammoth book tours. Starting this summer, a spokesman revealed today, the House Speaker will hit bookshops and bookstops in 40 U.S. cities to promote "To Renew America," the bound version of his longtime philosophy-and-civics course. The decision, oddly, comes after a political outcry forced Gingrich to turn down a $4.5 million advance from publisher HarperCollins. And yet: the dynamic Speaker, who plans four days of face time in New Hampshire next month, has lately enjoyed speculation that he'll enter the 1996 GOP presidential campaign. After today's announcement, press secretary Tony Blankley added perfunctorily: "He is not a candidate and doesn't plan to be a candidate."