Local Boy Makes Very, Very Good

From today's St. Paul Pioneer Press — and strangely enough, from the Business section, not the Books section:

Minnesota native gets book deal to explore 'new black overclass'

What are Newbos?

Find out in a book being written by Minnesota native Lee Hawkins, a 35-year-old reporter for the Wall Street Journal who lives in New York. He has a $250,000 advance from Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Publishing, to write a book about black professionals.

"America's New Black Overclass," Hawkins' first book, is expected to hit bookstores in 2008...

I really wanted to post the entire article, but I know I shouldn't, so follow the link and read it. And then prepare yourself to be amazed: a quarter million dollar advance for his first, as-yet-unwritten book about a bunch of rappers, athletes, and Oprah Winfrey?

Am I in the wrong racket, or what?