title: Why We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Bestselling Books
author:  Lisa Adams 
description: What does an analysis of <i>PW</i>'s and <i>USA Today</i>'s bestsellers lists tell us about the values, desires and fears of the American reading public? [R]eaders are increasingly attracted to simple, univocal reinforcements of hunches rather than complex... answers, say the authors. Heath (coauthor, <i>Who Killed Homer?</i>) and first-time author Adams go on to analyze book after book to show its superficiality and failure to challenge readers' assumptions; they pick in particular on Dan Brown. The low-carb craze was about simplistic answers to psychological and physiological issues. J.K. Rowling and John Grisham reduce the world to good vs. evil, eliminating the need to understand conflicting points of view; Laura Schlessinger's and John Gray's success reveal an American public longing for traditional male-female roles. Disaster books, even literary titles like <i>Into Thin Air</i>, demonstrate an American appetite for redemptive stories of survival in the face of tragedy, and the red-hot <i>Da Vinci Code</i> scored by manipulating our lust for controversy and conspiracy and our need to feel (without actually being) educated. This effort is larded with data that will be obvious to publishing professionals and of little interest to general readers. <i>(Sept.) </i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  Copyright © 1997 Lisa J Smith
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  First published in 1997 by Pocket Books,  
  
  
  a division of Simon
  
  
  &
  
  
  Schuster Inc.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  First published in Great Britain in 1998
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  by Hodder Children's Books
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  a division of Hodder Headline Limited  
  
  
  338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This edition published in 2002
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The right of Lisa J Smith to be identified as  
  
  
  the Author of the Work has been asserted by her  
  
  
  in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and  
  
  
  Patents Act 1988.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10987654321
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be  
  
  
  reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,  
  
  
  in any form or by any means without the prior written  
  
  
  permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated  
  
  
  in any form o