Liberal authors triumphant as US bookshelves lean left--Boston GLobe

[Gloria]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/14/liberal_authors_triumphant_as_us_bookshelves_lean_left/

Liberal authors triumphant as US bookshelves lean left
Sales list bucks right-wing trend

By Peter S. Canellos and Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 9/14/2003

WASHINGTON -- In a sales surge that surprised politicians and booksellers alike, five liberal books will be among The New York Times's top 15 hard-cover nonfiction bestsellers on today's list, mounting what some sales specialists see as a left-wing assault on the conservatives' decade-long hold on popular culture.

Until now, book publishing -- like talk radio and opinion magazines -- was dominated by right-wing political titles, including polemics by the leading radio and television pundits. The airwaves, bestseller lists, and the opinion press were widely viewed as links in a network that helped prompt investigations of President Clinton and assisted the elections of a Republican House, Senate, and presidency.

The extent of the conservative dominance of popular culture so alarmed Democrats that former vice president Al Gore, among others, proposed earlier this year creating a new television network to promote liberal causes.

This week, "Treason" by the popular conservative agitator Ann Coulter clocks in at number five, but no other right-leaning political book appears anywhere in the top 30. The top position belongs to Al Franken's "Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them)," a satirical body blow to the conservative punditry. A more cerebral attack on the same conservatives, Joe Conason's "Big Lies" registers at number eight.


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[ewagner]

1. Yes!!

Thanks for the post.

It's about time!

[LoZoccolo]

2. And remember...

...stay conscious and don't let it die.

[The Zanti Regent]

10. Paul Krugman is coming too

Can't wait for his book!

GO PAUL K GO!!!!!!

[Melsky]

3. Things are looking up!

A want to get Franken's and Conason's books as soon as I can afford to.

I can't believe Coulter's book is still on there though, does anyone really take her seriously?

[Occulus]

4. No.

And the little (+) next to the title of her book denotes bulk orders.

Imagine that.

[peacetalksforall]

5. It is easy to believe - the right is carefully orchestrated.

n/t

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Why Do You Think ...

... They Call It The Mighty Wurlitzer?

--bkl

[jbm]

7. this article..

is making the repubs nuts..lol.

http://www.hollywoodhalfwits.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14929

[AP]

8. In Wealth & Democracy, Kevin Phillips notes that there were no magazine...

articles about popular progressive issues for a long time after you would have thought the popular media would have confronting the obvious problems with contemporary society at the time. Phillips said that it was with book publishing where seminal left commentary on society found its foot hold which then blossomed into the progressive movement.

[Mairead]

9. This is misleading

All anyone has to do is look at indicators such as

- most-popular cartoons (hint: Mallard Fillmore didn't make the list)

- most-popular film themes.

- most-successful fiction authors (the ones with the strong backlists)


These are better measures because they reflect what people voluntarily choose. And those choices are liberal. The hits are the ones with liberal, pro-human, escapist themes. There's no 'capitalist realism' making it big in the marketplace.

Europeans tend to sneer at USAians because we prefer happy endings to our stories. I've always thought that shows a lack of understanding on their part: we prefer happy endings because we see too much of the other kind in our everyday lives. If we had healthcare, good pensions, a livable unemployment benefit, and other social goods, we too could afford to take emotional risks. But we don't have those things, so we don't want to be reminded of the fragility of our lives.