# Bests-selling books it seems nobody reads **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666 "2016-05-02T03:57:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/41 "2016-05-08T12:46:42Z")
The OP’s memory is correct on hidden prizes secreted within unread copies of _A Brief History of Time_. It and many of the others mentioned in the threads are known as Emperors’ New Books, as explained in this _New York Times_ [article](http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/15/books/think-tank-let-us-now-praise-books-well-sold-well-loved-but-seldom-read.html). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/42 "2016-05-08T17:18:38Z")
Various books with titles along the lines of _The X Report_ or similar. _The Warren Report_ summarizing the Warren Commission’s findings on the JFK assassination was a big seller. I doubt very few at the time read it. It was more of a memento. (Although I suspect most that buy it now are doing so for not just reading, but as a study basis for conspiracy theories as well.) _The Hite Report on Female Sexuality_ got a lot of attention when it came out. But people soon found out it was mostly clinical and not all that lurid. When _The Hite Report on Men and Male Sexuality_ came out later, it didn’t get anywhere near the interest. Less than fun reads about topics of great interest at the time. Other JFK related non-fiction also sold well, some even before he died. E.g., the first of Theodore H. White’s _Making of a President_ series for 1960 was a bestseller but mainly used for making your bookshelf look classier. The later books in the series did not sell nearly as well in part because of people who tried to read the first one but gave up. JFK’s own _Profiles in Courage_ was also probably not read by many of its buyers, but the percentage is no doubt lower than for some other titles given so far. ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/43 "2016-05-08T22:25:00Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The Bible is fairly widely available. Few have read it. You win. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/44 "2016-05-09T16:46:48Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Besides “The Da Vinci Code”, of course!.. > > The Shack - Wm. Paul Young… I read both of these for a book club. The first I thought was OK (although my Episcopal priest once said wisely, “There’s a reason it’s in the FICTION section of the bookstore”), and was less than impressed by the second, although I did finish it. > [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > …Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses”. My sister owned an independent bookstore at the time of the Ayatollah’s _fatwa_ and I wanted to do my part to stand up for free speech, so I bought and read it. I was baffled much of the time but am glad I took a chance on it. I recently also read _Joseph Anton_, Rushdie’s very engrossing autobiography (most of it about his time under British police protection), which led me to a collection of his essays, _Imaginary Homelands_, which was uneven but mostly worthwhile. > [@ftg](#): > > …Other JFK related non-fiction also sold well, some even before he died. E.g., the first of Theodore H. White’s _Making of a President_ series for 1960 was a bestseller but mainly used for making your bookshelf look classier. The later books in the series did not sell nearly as well in part because of people who tried to read the first one but gave up. > > JFK’s own _Profiles in Courage_ was also probably not read by many of its buyers, but the percentage is no doubt lower than for some other titles given so far. I read and liked both books very much. I just recommended White’s book to my political-junkie teenage son, as it happens. It’s a nuts-and-bolts American campaign classic. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/45 "2016-05-11T01:40:39Z")
I have read all of Proust’s _In Search of Lost Time_ or _Remembrance of Things Past_, depending on which translation you’re reading. It took me a year, but I found it very enjoyable. It does help to have some familiarity with late-19th-century French culture. I’ve read some of the others mentioned in this thread, but special mention should go to _The Satanic Verses_. I was here in Thailand when it came out, and Thailand promptly banned it. This is not a Muslim country of course, but there is a sizable Muslim population, particularly in the Deep South. I asked my father, who was still alive back then, to mail me a copy, and it’s somewhat thrilling to read a banned book in a country where it’s banned. Today however, it can be found on in local bookstores. I don’t know if the ban was lifted or if just no one cares anymore. One that’s not been mentioned here is _War and Peace_. It’s shorter than some Stephen King novels but always portrayed as this heavy, deep-thinking tome, to be read while seated in an overstuffed chair in your personal library, wearing a smoking jacket and puffing on your pipe, but I found it very readable. However, as with Proust, it helps to have a little understanding of the time period. _Anna Karenina_ is another one of Tolstoy’s I enjoyed. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/46 "2016-05-11T03:51:50Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The Bible is fairly widely available. Few have read it. There are an awful lot of bible study classes in churches. 40 years ago “The Pentagon Papers” would be high on this list. One of my friends bought it when it came out and admitted a year later that he hadn’t touched it since bringing it home from the book store. “But if Nixon didn’t want to read it, I was going to buy it on principle” as he put it. Lots of Germans denied they ever read “Mein Kampf” which was often given as a wedding or other gift in the 1930s. They denied a lot after the war. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/47 "2016-05-11T21:47:21Z")
The Mission Earth series by L Ron Hubbard was a best seller. It is rare to find people who have read them. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666/48 "2016-05-11T23:01:11Z")
This thread, also started byh me, made me wonder if anyone has actually read any of the “historical” children’s books Rush Limbaugh has published in the past few years. > **[What does Papa Bear read?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=785738)** > > Earlier today, I was looking at a “Three Bears” book that was published in the early 1950s. On the first page, Papa Bear is sitting in an easy chair by the fire, reading 🆒 I thought that was a nice little slice of life at that time. And yes, I... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bests-selling-books-it-seems-nobody-reads/753666.md?page=2)