psychological impact of life's irreversible, ever-accumulating losses". The song cycle also describes the life and death of the romantic ideal of the American Dream. Release and commercial performance Prior to the release of the album, the band helped put together, and performed at, the Monterey Pop Festival. "Fakin' It" was issued as a single that summer, but the duo was much more focused on the rising FM format, which played album cuts. On the label of the original 45 RPM single, the 3:14-long "Fakin' It" was shown as having a run time of "2:74", to try to get past radio programmers who were still strictly applying the "under 3 minutes" pop single formula. "Fakin' It" had only modest success on AM radio. In January 1968, the duo appeared on a Kraft Music Hall special, Three for Tonight, performing ten songs largely culled from their third album. Richard Avedon, regarded then as one of the best photographers, was commissioned to shoot the album cover. When viewed closely, one can see Avedon's reflection in Simon's irises. Bookends was released by Columbia Records on April 3, 1968. In a historical context, that was just 24 hours before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., which spurred nationwide outrage and riots. Fornatale opines that the album served as "comfort food" during rather tumultuous times within the nation. The album debuted on the Billboard Pop Album Chart in the issue dated April 27, 1968, climbing to number one and staying at that position for seven non-consecutive weeks, remaining on the chart for a total of 66 weeks. Bookends received such heavy orders weeks in advance of its release that Columbia was able to apply for award certification before copies had left the warehouse, a fact that was touted in magazine ads. The record became the duo's best-selling album to date. It fed off the buzz created by the release of The Graduate soundtrack album ten weeks earlier, creating an initial combined sales figure of over five million units. In the United Kingdom, Bookends was a number one hit. The album charted highly in both Australia and France, peaking in both countries at number three. The duo had a complicated relationship with Davis; Simon was particularly outraged when Davis suggested raising the list price of Bookends to $5.79 (US$ in dollars), one dollar above the standard retail price. Davis explained that including a large poster with