Stranger than Fiction

The press reported that Persident Bush was reading Albert Camus' classic existential novel "The Stranger" on his vacation in Texas this week (Bush reads Camus's 'The Stranger' on ranch vacation). I confess to missing this one in high school English class, but I do recall the 1980s synth-pop song by The Cure based on this book. The song was titled "Killing an Arab" and caused a bit of controversy at the time. Indeed, a quick Google shows that this book is about a remorseless, dislikable fellow who murders 'an arab' (and the victim is always described this way, for some reason) in cold blood and with little provocation. The Stranger is caught, tried and executed. Quite an odd choice of literature all around for Mr. Bush, I would think.