Unlike in New York, baseball steroid man Jose Canseco drew a muted response at this week's book signing here.

Stuffed behind a counter in a dimly lit corner of a nearly empty Sunset Strip book store Monday evening, Jose Canseco couldn't help but feel his magical book tour had hit a speed bump.

"I knew L.A. would bring the weakest reaction," he said, his palms wiping imaginary dust from the wooden counter top. "People are busier here. And they're more into actors."

Though the controversial former slugger had already signed 150 copies of "Vindicated," his second steroids-in-baseball literary foray, only 30 minutes into his visit to Book Soup, he now stared down a perhaps unwelcome reprieve. The local media, having nailed their video blurbs for the nightly news, departed just minutes into the session. The throng of fans disappeared soon after. Maybe that night's NCAA championship game was to blame. Or maybe in L.A., his city of residence, Canseco is just another buff bod with dirty stories to tell.

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