Saturday, March 6, 2010

My favorite books in Amazon sales rank

I love seeing how unpopular the books I love are. It makes me sad for the authors, but because I have a bleak view of humanity, it's reassuring in a way. 
  • The White Album - Joan Didion : #195,709 in Books
  • The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion : #3,367 in Books
  • The Secret History - Donna Tartt : #9,431 in Books
  • The Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster : #66,138 in Books
  • The World According to Garp - John Irving : #52,957 in Books
  • Pnin - Vladimir Nabokov : #182,355 in Books
  • The Human Stain - Philip Roth : #18,098 in Books
  • The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears - Dinaw Mengestu : #30,138 in Books
  • Crossing California - Adam Langer : #403,441 in Books
  • The Washington Story - Adam Langer : #678,645 in Books
  • Ellington Boulevard - Adam Langer : #181,084 in Books
  • Straight Man - Richard Russo : #2,731 in Books
  • Empire Falls - Richard Russo : #4,917 in Books
  • Moo - Jane Smiley : #30,895 in Books
  • Girlfriend in a Coma - Douglas Coupland : #287,396 in Books
  • Hey Nostradamus - Douglas Coupland : #169,938 in Books
  • I Am Charlotte Simmons - Tom Wolfe : #30,334 in Books
  • The Ruins of California - Martha Sherrill : #469,566 in Books
  • On Beauty - Zadie Smith : #15,588 in Books
  • Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl : #86,487 in Books
  • White Noise - Don DeLillo : #6,416 in Books
  • Love Is a Mix Tape - Rob Sheffield : #15,303 in Books
  • Oracle Night - Paul Auster : #174,789 in Books
  • The Book of Illusions - Paul Auster : #282,753 in Books
  • Everything Is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer : #3,825 in Books
  • Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon : #18,410 in Books
  • The Emperor's Children - Claire Messud : #80,818 in Books
  • The Group - Mary McCarthy : #42,685 in Books
  • The History of Love - Nicole Krauss : #1,204 in Books

Congrats, Adam Langer, you win least popular of my favorite authors, and that makes you even more awesome and all around incredible. Nicole Krauss, you book club favorite, you're actually pretty popular. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an exellent list. Those rankings are shocking. I'm sure if you had a ranking of music it would be similar. Popularity does not guarantee quality.

Anne said...

As far as the lesser known authors are concerned, it's kind of understandable because I don't think their publishers have really promoted them, but Zadie Smith's ranking is very low.
I'd never heard of Martha Sherrill or Adam Langer. I found Martha Sherrill's book at the Harvard Coop and Adam Langer was recommended by an ex boyfriend who knew the author.
Have you read anything by Adam Langer?

Anonymous said...

Good point. If they're not promoted properly then it would be difficult for them to have a high ranking. And no, I haven't read anything by Adam Langer.