Indeed. According to Hackett and Burke's "Eighty Years Of
Best Sellers", a list which combines hardcover and paperback
sales in the US from 1895 thru 1973, "I, The Jury" registered
6,096,700 sales, which places it slightly ahead of "The Great
Gatsby" and "Catcher In The Rye" but well behind the likes of
"Love Story," "Valley Of The Dolls," and "Jaws" (all over
9,000,000).
What's perhaps more remarkable than the big sales of "I, The
Jury" is that fact that seven of Spillane's novels are listed
as selling over 5,000, 000 copies.
Al
----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Robison" <
miker_zspider@yahoo.com> To: <
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com>
> His I, The Jury became a world record
bestselling
> novel. I just mentioned that a few days ago but
I
> figure it's worth repeating. So whether we like
him
> or not, his writing stands as a major
American
> phenomenon. It is possible that his work will
lose
> its original appeal and become nothing more
than
> period pieces. Nevertheless, in the time that
he
> wrote, he struck a powerful chord with his
audience.
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