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No citations on this one, but:
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>http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/literature/21-best-selling-books-of-all-time.htm
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>Atlas Shrugged isn't even in the list, and #21 has 50 million copies.
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>Ah, Wikipedia is footnoted:
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>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books
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>Atlas Shrugged isn't on this much longer list, either. >
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>My fault - correction, two polls done by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club reported that Atlas was second to the Bible in terms of "influential books", not sales....mea maxima culpa
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Okay, here's some real information on this poll:
" The Bible is apparently the book that has most influenced people's lives. In a survey of reading habits conducted for the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club, which will be released today, respondents overwhelmingly chose the Bible as the book that had made a difference in their lives.
The books that follow are as different from one another as No. 4 "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, is from No. 7, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie. Many of the books, however, are inspirational in nature, including "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," by Harold S. Kushner, one of five books that tied for ninth place.
The survey was financed by the book club and conducted by the Information Analysis System Corporation of Mansfield Center, Conn., which sent its survey to 5,000 Book-of-the-Month club members, 2,032 of whom responded, the corporation said."
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/20/books/book-notes-059091.htmlNote also that this goes back to 1991.
I don't know about you, but I don't find Book of the Month Club members to be the folks I think represent society as a whole. IOW, this is one data point.
Tamar
