New York Times Book Editor Sam Tanenhaus defended the paper's listing of Laura Ingraham's new book, “The Obama Diaries,” as non-fiction, even though it is clearly a fictional creation.

“There seems to be a history on the best-seller list that if a book deals in a direct way with politics and campaigns or current events then it has been historically listed as non-fiction,” Tanenhaus told me.

The book, which hit the Times best seller list on July 23, contains fictional diary entries purportedly written by President Obama and members of his administration.

On Sunday, Media Matters contrasted the Times' designation of the book as nonfiction with numerous examples of the book's fictional elements.

Tanenhaus says there is a practice by the bestseller list to classify most any parody or political satire as non-fiction: “There are any number of books that are considered non-fiction because they do not have a clearly imaginative purpose as fiction does.”

He added: “We do see books of this nature and you do not dignify them by calling them fiction. In the end, it is a kind of political commentary.”

Tanenhaus also referred to a piece written on July 23 by the Times' Jennifer Schuessler that addressed the issue. In it, she compared the Ingraham book to Barbara Bush's 1991 work, “Millie's Book,” which Bush purported to be the views of the White House dog. It was also listed as non-fiction.

“The folks who create the best-seller list -- which is compiled independently of the Book Review -- were following their own policy on the gray area of satire, as well as the lead of the publisher and the Library of Congress; both classified the book, which recounts actual events from a canine point of view, as nonfiction,” Schuessler wrote. “Ingraham, whose book is labeled 'political science/satire,' doesn't try to get inside the head of Bo, the Obamas' Portuguese water dog, though she does have some scathing things to say about the media's puppy-love response to Bo's rollout.”

Tanenhaus said the Times had not reviewed the Ingraham book, noting: “I don't think they sent it to us.”