That would be the launch of the paperback edition of a tiny, not-so-successful book called THE DA VINCI CODE, natch. But no matter what you might think of the content or premise, it’s awfully hard to argue with success on the order of 43 million copies sold around the world, as the Hartford Courant’s Carole Goldberg reminds us. So why has the book been so successful for so long? The Chicago Tribune’s Julia Keller & Patrick Reardon ask around: “It is the inhalable book,” declares Donna Seaman, associate editor of Booklist and author of “Writers on the Air: Conversations About Books” (2005). “Everything about it is so charming.”
And so flattering: As Seaman notes, readers feel smart because often they’re figuring out the clues before the book’s characters do. “Dan Brown tricks people into thinking they’re getting an education. It’s `cultural history lite.’ People feel they’re benefiting.”
So if for some reason you still don’t own a hardcover copy, as of today you can pick up a mass market edition for $7.99 or a trade paperback version for $14.95.
Meanwhile, Lisa Rogak, author of an unauthorized biography of Dan Brown, attests that the ongoing lawsuit against him by the HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL guys stems from a lifelong addiction to borrowing. But is it stealing? That’s a whole other question…