I enjoy watching the birth of a book. I first heard that Michael Casey, the Dow Jones bureau chief in Buenos Aires, was taking a book leave via mutual friends a couple of years ago. Then he was back on the job and a manuscript of Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image appeared at a journalist gathering. Then a facebook group and a blog. Then came a prominent, positive review by Michiko Kakutani. All very exciting.

When I heard Casey would read from Che's Afterlife at the U.S. Embassy's stall in the book fair, I signed up. As in past years, expat acquaintances sprinkled the Embassy's program (as well as visiting big guns Annie Proulx and Junot Diaz.) Casey's presentation was enjoyable, with a powerpoint of engaging Che iconography.

What came next struck me as silly. The Miami Herald headline ran: "Forum on Guevara just part of U.S. rebranding." I'm going to soft-pedal here because I know the reporter and I haven't asked for his account of the story's spin, but I must quote one funny, incendiary line: "U.S. taxpayers funded the discussion at the Buenos Aires 35th International Book Fair of the Argentine revolutionary who dedicated his life to armed struggle against capitalism and imperialism."

For the record, no funding was involved. In his reaction, Michael Casey estimates the total cost to U.S. taxpayers to be $1.50 -- "you’d have to pro-rata the three-week lighting cost for the stand for that which was relevant to my 40 minutes in one corner..." he blogged. Responding to the Miami Herald's misleading story, an irate Republican congresswoman allegedly issued a press release titled: "Ros-Lehtinen Comments on U.S. Funding of Che Guevara Event: Condemns Use of Taxpayer Funds to Praise Brutal Che." The press release cannot yet be found on this official website (hence my careful use of 'allegedly'), but Casey posts it here.

"You can't buy better publicity..," Casey wrote on fb. And sales are climbing on Amazon. Congrats, MC.

[Photo from the NYT review: Courtesy of the exhibition “Revolution and Commerce: Portrait of Che Guevara by Albert Korda”]