Bestselling Books

I'm still surprised by the complete lack of literary works having sustained success on the bestseller lists this fall. Usually, this is the time of year when serious fiction does best of all. Not this year. The last chart before Christmas showed everyone gravitating towards the obvious brand names, with the pablum of Mitch Albom topping the fiction list and Barack Obama staking a continued claim for serious contender status on the nonfiction list. (Hilary for President and Obama as VP would be an unbeatable team.) And they didn't get the rave reviews of the 9-11 commission, but The Iraq Study Group is on top of the paperback bestsellers list with their final report. Too bad Bush won't read it.