VIDEOS/PHOTOS: Over 1,000 Waited In Line to Meet Hillary Clinton and Buy Her Autographed Book “What Happened,” at Brookfield Costco

Report by Paula Antolini
September 17, 2017 11:46AM EDT

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: Over 1,000 Waited In Line to Meet Hillary Clinton and Buy Her Autographed Book “What Happened,” at Brookfield Costco

“In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I’ve often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net. Now I’m letting my guard down.” —Hillary Rodham Clinton, from the introduction of What Happened

Click here to view VIDEO of Hillary Clinton entering room.

Click here to view VIDEO of Hillary Clinton greeting crowd.

Fans could hardly contain their excitement as hundreds of people waited hours yesterday at Costco in Brookfield, CT, anxious to meet Hillary Rodham Clinton in person and obtain an autographed copy of her latest book “What Happened.” Costco officials said they expected 1,000 or more attendees at the book signing event.

The line of people, about 6-10 wide, waiting for Clinton to arrive, was hidden from the road and also hidden from regular shoppers arriving on a Saturday in the main parking lot entrance. Security was high, with Secret Service, local police and Costco officials out in force, and early on the area where Clinton was to arrive was off limits to everyone but security personnel.

People arrived as early a 6:30 a.m. and some slept in their cars or folding chairs since the night before. By 9:30 a.m. the line stretched from the Costco rear dock to the tire center, basically almost the entire the length of the Costco building.

Once the line was allowed to move inside a bit, it did not seem to shorten outside as more people kept arriving. Children amused themselves with toys they brought, one young boy even had a model ship to play with. Some adults were reading the Clinton book as they waited. In a nice gesture, Costco handed out free cookies and water to people on line, to make the wait more pleasant in the warm weather.

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The Clinton “What Happened” book was released on September 12, 2017 by Simon and Schuster and is Clinton’s seventh book with this publisher for which she received an 8 million dollar advance from them.

The book is a 2017 memoir about her experience as the the first female presidential candidate from a major party in United States history and her loss of the 2016 election to Donald Trump.

The staging area for the book signing was set up in a storage area in the back of the Costco store, separate from the retail section where shoppers were. There was a large display of her books lining the back wall behind where she would be seated, and also many books stacked around and on the table. The press was only allowed 15 minutes to shoot photos and/or video and no questions or interaction were permitted by the media.

Ms. Clinton entered the area at approximately 12 noon through a black curtain lining the staging area, with the presence of a security force heavily surrounding indoor and outdoor areas.

As Clinton entered, she greeted some Costco employees that were standing at attention, in a straight line, waiting to meet her. She shook their hands while greeting each person, then walked over to the first individuals waiting in the book signing line. Ms. Clinton engaged them in a short conversation too (view video above).

After Ms. Clinton was seated, groups of people moved past the front of her table stopping to meet Clinton and to have a small short chat. Clinton then signed her books for them. At this event she was also promoting another one of her books, It Takes a Village.

The What Happened Clinton Book Tour will travel across North America, and will include the Warner Theater in Washington on Sept. 18. The tour will take her through Florida, California, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington state and Oregon, as well as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada, reports Fox News.

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During the book promotion event there were a few protesters outdoors, across the street from Costco, holding Trump supporter signs.

If you view the Amazon.com website What Happened book page, there are mixed reviews and quite a number of negative reviewers are “protesting Amazon’s censorship.” Some reviewers are claiming Amazon is removing their negative reviews repeatedly, even on “verified purchase” reviews.

In 24 hours after the book release last Tuesday, Amazon deleted 900 reviews, reports Quartz, claiming the negative reviews were mostly from unverified purchases.

“The publisher of Hillary Clinton’s new book What Happened is questioning Amazon reviews posted within a day of the book’s release.” the Washington Post reports, “As of Wednesday morning, more than 1,500 reviews appeared on Amazon. Many contained little information about the book and instead offered high praise or sharp criticism of the Democratic candidate.”

“It seems highly unlikely that approximately 1,500 people read Hillary Clinton’s book overnight and came to the stark conclusion that it is either brilliant or awful,” Simon & Schuster publisher Jonathan Karp tells The Associated Press, reports the Washington Post.

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ABOUT THE BOOK “WHAT HAPPENED” from the official website:

For the first time, Hillary Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history.

Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. This is her most personal memoir yet.

In these pages, she describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterwards. With humor and candor, she tells readers what it took to get back on her feet—the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. She speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics.

She lays out how the 2016 election was marked by an unprecedented assault on our democracy by a foreign adversary. By analyzing the evidence and connecting the dots, Hillary shows just how dangerous the forces were that shaped the outcome, and why Americans need to understand them to protect our values and our democracy in the future.

The election of 2016 was unprecedented and historic. What Happened is the story of that campaign and its aftermath—both a deeply intimate account and a cautionary tale for the nation.

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VIEW MORE BOOK SIGNING EVENT PHOTOS BELOW: