BY AL BORE

AL Gore isn't having much more success as an author than he did as a presidential candidate. Gore and his wife, Tipper, have blanketed the media with interviews and TV appearances, but their Henry Holt releases, "Joined at the Heart," about families, and "The Spirit of the Family," a companion coffee table book, aren't selling well. "Joined" was ranked 1,693 in sales yesterday on Amazon.com, while "Spirit" was at 3,381. Executives at rival publishing houses were not surprised. "Books by active politicians are traditionally a tough sell," said Random House biggie Stuart Applebaum. "They rarely include anything provocative."

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2002