(no subject)

[andrew_jorgensen]

I don't think it would come as any surprise that Tyler Cowen of George Mason University and Marginal Revolution knows something I don't -- it's probable he knows quite a bit I don't -- but I am surprised to find that one fantasy I've enjoyed is, instead, fact:

What were the most blogged about books in 2005?

Here is a New York Times list, no permalink yet. The data are drawn from an automated survey of the top 5000 blogs. Freakonomics, Harry Potter, Blink, and The World is Flat lead the list. Jared Diamond has two in the top ten. Surowiecki's Wisdom of Crowds is #12. The first work of fiction is The da Vinci Code at #10. Orwell and Narnia are not far behind. I conclude, tentatively, that the blogosphere is increasing the influence of non-fiction books, relative to fiction.

Well, that explains that bespectacled punk who keeps coming around claiming that my Pinewood Derby trophy is some sort of "horcrux."

Comments

[nzraya.livejournal.com]

Look, the fact of the matter is that Harry Potter is at least as "real" as anything produced by the mind of Thos. Friedman. I mean, if I had a tought foreign policy decision to make and no one else to ask, I'm pretty sure I'd go with JKR's advice over TF's.

On a side note, I was disheartened (though not surprised) to read, in a recent CCT featurette on summer reading, that a certain Dean Yatrakis cited The World Is Flat as her #1 read of Summer 2005, calling Friedman "brilliant" and claiming that he "writes beautifully." No wonder my Columbia undergrads can't construct a lucid argument to save their souls.....

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

I should note that I was, back a Gulf War or two ago, a big fan of From Beirut to Jerusalem. I also may be misremembering but I think I was somewhat fond of Dean Yatrakis, at least until the disciplinary hearing . . .