UK writer Daniel Tammet must score a record of sorts for his multiple identities. He's autistic, a savant, gay, Christian and a best-selling author. (Pity he isn't black.) His memoir "Born On A Blue Day" debuts at #3 on the NYTimes bestseller list. I'm not sure what TV appearances he did to make such a high debut. Did Oprah have him on? Tammet has a blog, of course, which might be a good way for someone who is autistic to interact with others on an easy basis. On the fiction list, the charts remain crowded with genre fiction, with nary an acclaimed work in sight. Thomas Harris is watching his latest "Hannibal" book sliding down and almost off the chart after only a few weeks.
P.S. By the way, this is one more example of the power of the Internet. I look up next week's bestseller list online, see a name I'm unfamiliar with, find his bio on Wikipedia, find his blog and search around for other info on him and in no time I'm pretty well-informed about who Daniel Tammet is and even have a website where I can leave him a comment. Amazing.
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60 Minutes did a feature on him last night, although that wouldn't have contributed to his current place on the best seller list.
My friend told me about that today. As you note, it wouldn't have impacted the NYTimes bestseller list so there must be some other reason why it debuted so high. Other than Oprah, I can't imagine what that would be. No morning news show or talk show would typically have such a big impact on a pretty obscure title. (It was a big hit in the Uk, but still.) The mystery deepens.
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