 Bill Clinton's worst day in office came when he admitted to his wife the affair with a White House intern that would threaten his marriage and his presidency, the US former president said in a television interview promoting his memoirs.
His confession to Hillary Clinton came two days before Clinton was to testify before a grand jury in August 1998 in an investigation that would lead to his impeachment, he said in an hour-long interview on CBS' "60 Minutes". "I had a sleepless night and woke her up and sat down on the side of the bed and just told her. And it was awful," Clinton said. The interview was the first to air on television to promote the book "My Life." "She looked at me as if I had punched her in the gut," Clinton wrote. The renewed focus on the White House sex scandal may be starting to test Clinton's patience. London's Sunday Telegraph reported that Clinton lost his temper when repeatedly asked about his affair during a BBC program to air on Tuesday. The Telegraph quoted an unnamed BBC executive who saw the interview as saying Clinton "is visibly angry." Clinton has kicked off afull-throttlepublicity campaign to sell his 957-page memoir, which goes on sale on Tuesday. The launch includeshigh-profileinterviews, alavishbook party for a thousand guests in Manhattan on Monday and nonstop book signings and television appearances throughout the week. While publisher Alfred A. Knopf has received more orders than the 1.5 million copies of the book's first printing, early reviews were tough on the former president's effort. In a front-page review, The New York Times called it "sloppy, self-indulgent and ofteneye-crossinglydull -- the sound of one manprattling away." "In many ways, the book is a mirror of Mr. Clinton's presidency: lack of discipline leading to squandered opportunities; high expectations, undermined by self-indulgence and scattered concentration," the Times wrote. (Agencies)
| 美國前總統比爾·克林頓在為他的回憶錄造勢的電視訪談中說，他在白宮最糟糕的日子是向妻子承認他和一名白宮實習生的風流韻事那天。此事威脅到他的婚姻和總統寶座。 克林頓接受了美國哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）“60分鐘”節目的采訪，在長達一個小時的節目中，他說，1998年8月，他向妻子希拉里·克林頓承認了自己的風流韻事，此后兩天，他就在大陪審團面前為彈劾他的調查作證。 克林頓說：“那是一個不眠之夜，我叫醒她，坐在床邊向她坦白，感覺太糟糕了”。此次采訪是克林頓第一次通過電視向公眾宣傳他的新書《我的生活》。 克林頓寫道：“她看著我，仿佛已經肝腸寸斷。” 對白宮性丑聞的再次關注開始考驗克林頓的耐性。 倫敦《星期日電訊報》的報道稱，在星期二播出的BBC的節目中，當克林頓被反復問起他的丑聞時，他開始“發脾氣”。 《星期日電訊報》援引一位未透露姓名的看過采訪的BBC主管的話說，克林頓顯然很生氣。 克林頓已經啟動了全面的宣傳推廣活動，他957頁的回憶錄即將在周二上架。 推廣活動包括倍受矚目的訪談，周一在曼哈頓為一千名貴賓舉行的豪華新書會，以及整周馬不停蹄的新書簽售和電視采訪。 出版商艾爾弗雷德·A·諾普夫接到的訂單已經超過首次印刷的150萬冊，而早期評論對這位前總統的努力卻是苛刻的。 《紐約時報》的頭版評論稱此書“粗制濫造，自我放縱，無聊得讓人昏昏欲睡——簡直是一個男人在胡言亂語”。 《泰晤士報》報道說：“這本書在很多地方都反映出克林頓的總統生涯：缺乏紀律以致于白白浪費機會；期望值很高，而由于自我放縱和三心二意卻無法實現。” full-throttle:全面的 (at full throttle:全速地，開足馬力)
high-profile:倍受關注的
lavish:豪華的
eye-crossingly dull:無聊得睜不開眼（cross one's eyes:半閉著眼睛）
prattle away:胡言亂語 （中國日報網站譯）
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Updated: 2004-06-22 01:00
