In his hit movie “Good Will Hunting”, Matt Damon’s streetwise genius tells Robin Williams’s shrink about a book that “will knock you on your ass.” The book, he says, is A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn’s populist take on American history.

As thousands of readers already know, the book is real, and thanks to the Oscar-winning star’s enthusiasm, the tome is drawing attention from such unlikely quarters as television. More specifically, the Fox Network.

Damon; his “Good Will” costar and cowriter; Ben Affleck; the movie’s coproducer Chris Moore; and historian Zinn are in negotiations with Foxto transform A People’s History into a miniseries, according to a source familiar with the talks. “Fox is close to optioning the book,” says the source. “Damon, Affleck, Moore and Zinn met with top people at the network, and everybody was enthusi-astic about it.”

Why is Damon so interested? The actor grew up as a neighbor of Zinn’s in the Boston suburb of Newton and counts the 75-year-old historian as a big influ-ence in shaping his progressive political outlook. Damon’s quick tribute in “Good Will Hunting” gave A People’s History a big boost “It’s a modem classic that has always sold well for us,” says Susan Wein-berg, the publishing director of Harper Perennial. “It certainly increased sales substantially over last year.” The book has sold more than 500,000 copies since it was first published in 1980, and Weinberg estimates that sales are up by 10 percent because of the “Good Will Hunting” stamp of approval.

On the surface, A People’s History hardly seems like typical Fox material. When the network deals in reality, the result is usually of the Cops or America’s Most Wanted variety-not exactly Ken Burns fodder. “The idea is to take the book’s irreverent take on American history and do a multipart dramatization of it,” says the source. “And with Damon and Affleck attached, it could actually get made.”

Whether the hot young stars would act in, write or produce the possible series is uncertain. Their interest, however, seems clear. “When [Damon]heard Zinn was looking to turn A People’s History into television and needed his help, he didn’t think twice about signing up,” says the source. “Damon knows he has clout now and wants to use it to push for things he believes in.”