--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Gonzalo Baeza" <gbaeza@...> wrote:
>
> I wish the best-seller lists were actually comprised of literary
> fiction, even if a lot of it is stale and derivative. Most
> best-selling fiction these days actually consists of formulaic genre
> garbage such as James Patterson-style, assembly-line thrillers with
> three-page chapters, borderline porn romances with effeminate vampires
> and repetitive legal thrillers.
>
Good point. And the names of the authors on such lists tend to repeat,
and repeat... and repeat. I was subsconsciously filtering all that
trash out in what I said. Thanks for reminding me of what actually
sells the most... Sometimes a good crime novel slips in, but the
majority is as you described. On this subject, though, somebody
pointed out to me that if one looks in the archives and looks up the
bestseller lists from the thirties, forties, fifties, etc., the
pattern of trash is quite visible. Not a new phenomenon.
I hope yawl know that since recently books.google.com has a huge
repository of serial publications, including many popular magazines,
available online. It should be a good source for research or just to
satisfy curiosity.
Best,
mrt
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