| | If you're having trouble viewing this email,
click here | | | | | | This Week in Books & Literature | | We take a look at the (very surprising) list of international bestsellers, celebrate the underappreciated wit of a sensationalist tour-de-force, and promise you still have time to read "The Martian" before the movie premiers this weekend. | | | | | These Are the Bestselling Books Around the World | | "American pop culture is so pervasive, and increasingly geared towards the international market (what, you thought dialog-light movies about giant robots was just a natural evolution of visual storytelling?) that it's easy to assume that if something is doing well in the U.S. market, it's doing well everywhere. It's also easy to assume that every other country and culture just follows where the U.S. leads, because we're awesome and do everything better. The fact is, the world is still divided into separate markets—and yet is dominated in many ways by the American cultural behemoth. The result is a list of international bestsellers that is remarkably familiar and alien all at once. Here's a glimpse of the books selling all over the world—surprisingly familiar and unfamiliar at the same time." | | | | | The Top 5 Jackie Collins Novels of All Time | | "For many people, Jackie Collins have for some time now represented a bygone era: The decadent 1970s or the big-hair, soap-opera 1980s, or a little of both. As the world mourns her passing, however, it's worth noting with a hint of amazement that every single book Collins published—32 in all—hit the bestseller lists, including her last novel, this year's The Santangelos (continuing the story of the crime family that was the focus of nine of her books). That's a remarkable run for anyone. No one will ever write a term paper about Collins' prose, but that doesn't mean her books weren't worth reading. In fact, many folks would be surprised to find her novels filled not just with the steamy and often raunchy escapades of the rich and famous that feel very real because they were describing a group of people and a place in the world that Collins herself, glamorous and beautiful (and rich), occupied, but also plenty of razor-sharp observations." | | | | | Don't Like Sci-Fi? Read "The Martian" Anyway | | "Some folks can resist Matt Damon's charm, and regard The Martian with the ancient bias against Science Fiction or Fantasy. The basic complaint is that Sci Fi and Fantasy are silly—they rely on fake things and therefore are easy to write, are meant for kids, and aren't as serious as other forms of fiction. While the idea that Sci Fi and Fantasy are meant for kids as opposed to adults is a ridiculous one, let's let that go and assume, for the sake of argument, that you have a legitimate personal dislike for speculative fiction. You know what? You should read The Martian anyway. Because it isn't really Sci Fi." | | | | | | | | | You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Entertainment newsletter.
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