The London Olympics are right around the corner. Which means, someone out there totally thinks they have a timely idea for a themed book.

But I'm pretty sure it's not this book, "Inside the Beijing Olympics," by Jeff Ruffalo. He just emailed me (and probably 20,000 other scribes) an invitation for a review copy.

Ruffalo might have wanted to publish this book oh, sometime in 2008, when the Beijing Olympics occurred.  I have to say I've postponed work before ... but really, waiting four years to put out a book??

Anyway, I'm sure it's a swell read. In fact, if anyone wants a reviewer's copy of the book, here's how to get one: Send an email to Jeff saying you want to get a review copy. And tell him where you'll publish the review (even Facebook would probably qualify).

Contact Ruffolopr   AT  hotmail.com.

What's in it?  Here are the breathtaking contents, according to the pitch email Jeff sent us:

•  A bomb threat at the Water Cube the day before the Opening Ceremonies
•  A viral Internet posting claiming the Chinese Olympic Organizers were banning the Bible
•  The Olympic Flame arriving in Tiananmen Square and
•  The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee’s media management of the Games, including the Sichuan Earthquake and its aftermath.

His description:  As the only American in the senior management team of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, Jeff Ruffolo takes you behind the scenes and into a world no one has ever before witnessed. This remarkable, first-person account of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games is a riveting narrative taking you inside the greatest Olympics ever! 

This true story recounts the author's effort to perfect the broadcasting of NCAA Volleyball on the fledgling Internet and commercial radio stations throughout the Western USA and how he parlayed that experience into becoming America's voice of Olympic Volleyball at the 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and then finally securing a position with the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.

Follow the author as he maneuvers alone through unchartered and perilous waters in The People's Republic of China to become the Senior Expert of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee and the personal challenges he faced as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Media Center managed one global media crisis after another. 

Be captivated by this fascinating tale of political intrigue, mystery and magic as you too will be transported  Inside the Beijing Olympics.