The worst books of 2009, the decade and all time

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

Sigh of relief, none of my books is on the list! Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer took top spots:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/12/10/the-worst-books-of-2009-the-decade-and-all-time/

Throw enough money at it and you can make a bestseller?

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

You can't sell what people don't want to buy. So some people don't like the Meyers and Brown books. More do, as evidenced by their sales.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

Nonsense. Garbage sells. You proved that.

Last edited by alice on Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:07 am; edited 1 time in total

Last edited by alice on Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:08 am; edited 1 time in total

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

No -if it sells, it's not garbage. People don't buy what they perceive to be garbage. I don't, at any rate. Do you?

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

alice wrote:: The advertsing made folks want them.

Advertising taps into our existing wants. It doesn't create them.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

LC wrote:: No -if it sells, it's not garbage. People don't buy what they perceive to be garbage. I don't, at any rate. Do you?

You buy what others perceive to be garbage.

Last edited by alice on Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:09 am; edited 1 time in total

Last edited by alice on Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:09 am; edited 2 times in total

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

It sure does.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

Shelagh wrote:: You buy what others perceive to be garbage.

That's their opinion, though, and you know the saying about opinions. The bottom line is that vast quantities of people have bought the aforementioned books, and Hollywood turned them into movies. If that's garbage, I'd like some for myself.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

alice wrote:: I have been induced to buy /read books which I ended up
thinking were garbage.

I suggest it tapped into a hidden want. It didn't satisfy the want, though, hence your calling it garbage.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

We know. You want money. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote stories that provided him with enormous wealth. He grew to hate Sherlock Holmes to the extent of killing him off. Funny how people with lots of money want to be remembered for their outstanding ability and not for their ability to make money.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

LC wrote:

alice wrote:: I have been induced to buy /read books which I ended up
thinking were garbage.

I suggest it tapped into a hidden want. It didn't satisfy the want, though, hence your calling it garbage.

Rubbish.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

If people want it, it's not rubbish, either. LOL

My wanting money has nothing to do with this. How can you argue with the fact that something that sells tens of millions of units is obviously NOT perceived as garbage by its buyers? Who is some blogger to tell them it is?

Last edited by alice on Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:10 am; edited 1 time in total

Last edited by alice on Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:11 am; edited 1 time in total

Last edited by alj on Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:55 am; edited 1 time in total

LC wrote:: No -if it sells, it's not garbage. People don't buy what they perceive to be garbage. I don't, at any rate. Do you?

Perception - that's what it's all about, isn't it. Who said, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"?

Love the mixed results on The DaVinci Code. It's a perfect example of the perception role. Progressives loved it; fundamentalists hated it.

"If it sells, it's not garbage." Does that make Sarah Palin's book smell any better?

Guess it all depends on what part of the elephant (or donkey?) we happen to be holding on to.

Anybody here happen to read George Lakoff?

Ann

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

I always understood "buyer's remorse" to mean regret of a purchase for whatever reason. E.g., you decided it was too extravagant, costly, not needed. Not because you thought it was garbage.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

Ann -who says Palin's book is garbage? Besides people who wouldn't like anything she wrote or said.

Last edited by alj on Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:57 am; edited 1 time in total

LC wrote:: Ann -who says Palin's book is garbage? Besides people who wouldn't like anything she wrote or said.

That's precisely my point, LC.

Ann

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

Yes, which is why I look at the bottom line -sales- as determining what is and isn't garbage.

The bloggers calling the Meyers and Brown books garbage just look stupid and bitter.

So the only criterion for quality is popularity?

Ann

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

alj wrote:: So the only criterion for quality is popularity?

Ann

No, the criteria for garbage is something you can't sell or give away.

I would say that quality (or usefulness) correlates with sales/popularity, though.

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