There's a school of thought in football that says David Beckham can't handle a marker. But there he was with a big black felt one in Easons yesterday, signing copies of his new book for two hours.
The latest instalment of Manchester United's love affair with Dublin drew the biggest crowd for a book signing anybody in Easons could remember. Fans queued from 4.30 a.m. for a fleeting audience with the star, and by lunchtime the line for autographs stretched half the length of Middle Abbey Street.
The shop also laid on a "viewing area" for those who just wanted to watch. Used though he is to close attention, whether from homicidal defenders or the cameras of OK magazine, the United man may have been relieved to see half a dozen Garda officers on duty.
Still, he managed to keep his finely-chiselled head throughout the experience, while many about him were losing theirs. Teenage girls wept at the sight of his cherubic smile, cameramen gnashed their teeth as his less cherubic security men had them ejected after the formal photo-opportunity, and staff at the bookshop clearly struggled to cope with the outbreak of Beckhamania.
Earlier, asked if Posh Spice would be accompanying her husband for the signing, an Easons spokeswoman said: "No, thank God. It's bad enough as it is." Another staff member recalled that "Joan Collins, and that nice lad from Boyzone, Ronan" had drawn big crowds, "but nothing like this".
Critics are unlikely to be wowed by the autobiography, entitled My World. Nevertheless, at £16.99 a copy, it was selling faster than Bewleys bracks yesterday.
A spokesman for Hodder & Stoughton reported "almost a thousand" sales as a result of the star's brief appearance. One of them was to Claire Carolan (13), from Stradbally in Co Laois, who held a copy in one hand and wiped away tears with the other after meeting her hero.
Outside in Abbey Steet, Laura Caldwell (17), from Balbriggan, had tears in her eyes, too, and even her mother, Susan, had been moved by a close encounter with the star.
Meanwhile, Diane Caldwell (12) displayed Beckham's signature on the back of her T-shirt, as she shivered either from the October cold or the excitement. "Both," she said.
