George Stephanopoulos

Campaigning for Clinton, says George Stephanopoulos, was good practice for a 25-city book tour. "You're doing interviews, going to events and meeting people," says the ex-White House adviser as he autographs copies of All Too Human (Little, Brown, $27.95), his tell-all account of the Clinton Presidency, at Borders Books in New York City. "Of course, it's a bit different. This time I can't hide behind anybody. I'm out in front."

This time, too, the once unflagging Clinton defender is harshly critical of his old boss. Originally, he says, he set out to write a story "with quite a happy ending." That was before Monica Lewinsky. Yes, Stephanopoulos admits, it bothers him that Clinton feels betrayed by the book. Still, "a lot of my [White House] friends have called and said quietly, 'This is the way it was.' You're not going to please everybody."

He doesn't have to worry about pleasing Maureen Murray and her pal Corrina Sabatacos, who wait in a line of more than 300 in hopes of a date. "You look even better in person than you do on TV!" Murray, a Manhattan police officer, tells the blushing author. "We're not stalkers," she jokes later, "but we would intern for him."