Rielle Hunter

So here, again, are two Americas. In one of them, John Edwards is little more than a late-night TV punch line. But in the other America, inhabited by North Carolinians like Claude Neville, the philandering politician and his beleaguered family are not celebrity abstractions, but flesh-and-blood neighbors. "If I see him again I'll speak nice," said Neville, who lives around the corner from Edwards' secluded, $6.7-million compound. "The Bible says you're supposed to forgive."

An old Jay McInerney novel featuring a party girl based on John Edwards' future mistress, Rielle Hunter, is getting a fresh printing from its publisher. An additional 2,500 copies have been commissioned for "Story of My Life," according to Vintage Books, a paperback imprint of Random House Inc. The book, first released in 1988, is narrated by a promiscuous, aspiring actress whom McInerney has said was inspired by Hunter -- then named Lisa Druck -- and a group of friends the author had met in New York.

The John Edwards/Rielle Hunter affair has been the talk of the Web since late last week, but a peppy, jagged little 2006 production called "Inspiring Politics: A Webisode Series Following John Edwards" has been attracting only a modest number of views on YouTube. It surfaced there a week ago after being removed from Edwards' website last year. Hunter, who by all accounts had a sketchy job history, including some off-the-radar acting and New Age spiritual advising, was contracted to make the videos soon after she met the candidate at an event in a New York City bar. The four short episodes are usually referred to as "campaign videos," which might explain why they have not drawn much of a crowd.