Politics



April 18, 2009, 11:34 am

April’s Poli-Book Best-Seller List

Is the honeymoon over? For the first time in many months, the celebratory pictorial and feature books chronicling the election of Barack Obama to the presidency (as well as his own biographies) no longer stand at the top of our blog’s best-selling political list.

This month’s most popular book is “Liberty And Tyranny, A Conservative Manifesto” by Mark R. Levin.

INSERT DESCRIPTIONMark R. Levin, author of “Liberty and Tyranny, A Conservative Manifesto.”

The talk-show host urges a change in our manner of thinking from that of a liberal outlook toward a conservative consciousness in order to pull America out of its slump.

“Inside The Revolution” by Joel C. Rosenberg lands at No. 3. Understanding the three revolutionary movements, Mr. Rosenberg argues, in the Middle East — is required — in order to formulate any moves with or against that region. “Joker One” by Donovan Campbell is No. 8, about Lt. Campbell’s harrowing experiences, along with his platoon, specifically in the city of Ramadi in the 2004 surge.

“Dead Aid” by Dambisa Moyo, at No. 13, posits the argument that after decades of development-related aid, African countries have not shown progress. A new approach, one that did not rely on foreign aid, would be a step in the right direction to improve conditions in devastated, impoverished African areas, according to the author.

At No. 12, “The Third Reich At War” by Richard J. Evans, traces the rise and fall of Nazi Germany in the conclusion of this trilogy.

Returning to the list is “The Ascent Of Money” by Niall Ferguson at No. 11. No need to wonder why this book is still of interest.

The full list follows:

POLI-BOOKS BEST SELLER LIST

Based on sales for weeks ending March 21 through April 11, 2009

1. Liberty And Tyranny, by Mark R. Levin. (Threshold Editions, $25.) A conservative manifesto from a talk-show host and president of Landmark Legal Foundation.

2. House Of Cards, by William D. Cohan. (Doubleday, $27.95.) The fall of Bear Stearns and the beginning of the Wall Street collapse.

3. Inside The Revolution, by Joel C. Rosenberg. (Tyndale, $24.99.) The power of three groups in the Middle East: Islamic radicals, moderate reformers and Muslims who are becoming Christians.

4. Out Of Captivity, by Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Tom Howes and Gary Brozek. (William Morrow, $26.99.) Three contractors escape from Colombian guerrillas.

5. The Unforgiving Minute, by Craig M. Mullaney. (Penguin Press, $28.95.) A soldier’s coming of age at West Point, Ranger School, Oxford (as a Rhodes scholar) and in battle in Afghanistan.

6. Meltdown, by Thomas E. Woods Jr. (Regnery, $27.95.) A free-market look at the stock-market collapse.

7. The Next 100 Years, by George Friedman. (Doubleday, $25.95.) A forecast of future wars and changes in nations’ economic and political power.

8. Joker One, by Donovan Campbell. (Random House, $26.) A Marine lieutenant and his platoon in Ramadi during the most violent days of the insurgency in 2004.

9. Hot, Flat, And Crowded, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.95.) How a green revolution can renew America, by The New York Times columnist.

10. A Slobbering Love Affair, by Bernard Goldberg. (Regnery, $25.95.) The mainstream media’s partisan support for Obama, according to the Fox News media analyst.

11. The Ascent Of Money, by Niall Ferguson. (Penguin Press, $29.95.) A financial history of the world, stressing the link between politics and economics.

12. The Third Reich At War, by Richard J. Evans. (Penguin Press, $40.) The final volume in the trilogy on the history of the Third Reich.

13. Dead Aid, by Dambisa Moyo. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $24.) Looking at the effects — or lack thereof — from financial aid to African countries.

14. The Return Of Depression Economics And The Crisis Of 2008, by Paul Krugman. (Norton, $24.95.) The recipient of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (and a columnist for The Times) revises his earlier work from 1999 to reflect the current economic crisis.

15. Lords Of Finance, by Liaquat Ahamed. (Penguin Press, $32.95.) How the four central bankers who dominated the post-World War I era pushed the global economy into the Great Depression by clinging to economic orthodoxy.

Rankings reflect aggregated sales for the weeks ending March 21 through April 11, 2009 at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of independent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket, discount, department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.


22 Comments

  1. 1. April 18, 2009 11:53 am Link

    It is not at all shocking that Levin’s Fiction would be popular. It was rumored that complimentary copies were being distributed at the teabagging protests.

    — John
  2. 2. April 18, 2009 11:59 am Link

    LIBERTY AND TYRANNY, by Mark R. Levin is the only truly political book on the list. It also tops the NYT non-fiction hard cover list and all Amazon sales. This book appears to be a real blockbuster. I guess there are a few conservatives out there still.

    — NC
  3. 3. April 18, 2009 12:08 pm Link

    Golly, what a good idea, let’s give conservatism another try.

    Under Bill Clinton we had the longest period of economic growth in American history, by far, a balanced budget, we leveled off the national debt, and we even started paying down the deficit.

    George Bush entered office with a projected $5.6 trillion dollar surplus, and left his predecessor with a projected multi-trillion dollar deficit. Bush increased our national debt more than every President in US history combined. He created the worst economic disparity since the dawn of the Great Depression. He took the strongest economy in the history of the world and brought it to its knees.

    And Mark R. Levin’s answer to that is to give the right-wingers another chance, which is basically the most ridiculous thing imaginable. Apparently Levin fills his fire extinguishers with gasoline. His book truly deserves a Darwin award.

    — g english
  4. 4. April 18, 2009 12:11 pm Link

    Liberty And Tyranny should be required reading in high school and college.

    — Gerald Leibniz
  5. 5. April 18, 2009 12:25 pm Link

    LIberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin is an awesome book. I couldn’t put it down. He puts all of the big issues into a single framework, personal freedom versus state control, that makes the big picture clear.

    I feel sorry for liberals who probably won’t read this book. It’s like not reading Thomas Paine during the American revolution.

    — Leah
  6. 6. April 18, 2009 4:07 pm Link

    — John – Conservatives say unions buy up all the crappy liberal treatises. I don’t know if either rumour is true. No stranger ever gave me a free book.

    g – The reason Bill Clinton was such a fine president was because he was from Arkansas, a state full of smart people like him and me, and where Democrats are the equivalent of New York Republicans. I hope Obama does as well.

    — NC
  7. 7. April 18, 2009 4:46 pm Link

    This list is to show book sales. There is no evidence that they are actually read.

    — Jack Cohen
  8. 8. April 18, 2009 6:49 pm Link

    Mark Levin will soon be knocked out of the top spot by “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent” by Eduardo Galeano.

    — John
  9. 9. April 18, 2009 9:15 pm Link

    Mark Levin’s book should be read by every American shortly after they finish the Federalist Papers. When the scholars of 2109 look back wondering what the heck happened here, they will be able to see it all laid out in the pages of Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto. Levin’s denunciation of the statists that are running this country is far more incisive and dynamic than his author photo might suggest.

    — JoJo
  10. 10. April 18, 2009 10:32 pm Link

    Straight from the bulk buyers to the street vendors: How the right wing plays the book sales rating system for every last inch of the credulity of the listkeepers.

    — Steve Bolger
  11. 11. April 18, 2009 11:02 pm Link

    NC, you may be right. Bill is certainly a remarkably smart person, and an effective and pragmatic centrist as well. I don’t doubt that his being from Arkansas factored into that.

    — g english
  12. 12. April 18, 2009 11:05 pm Link

    We’ve seen what two years of Democrat control of Congress has created for us economically. It’s time to move back to the winning “government is the problem” philosophy which makes the U.S. great…

    — Augustine 25
  13. 13. April 18, 2009 11:59 pm Link

    The author of this article marginalizes Bernard Goldberg (#10 on the list) as a “Fox News Media Analyst”.

    In reality, Bernard Goldberg is a 9 time Emmy Award winner, with contributions to HBO Sports and CBS.

    — TR
  14. 14. April 19, 2009 12:03 am Link

    The NYT has been asking if the honeymoon was over since the day after President Obama was inaugurated and every week since. Contrary to the conservative talking points, at least where the press was concerned, there never was an Obama honeymoon. Lots of coverage during the election did not equal positive coverage, as evident by the endless loop of Rev. right we were subjected to by even the most liberal news outlets. But don’t say it out loud, the lunatic-right fringe will froth all over themselves at any suggestion the media isn’t in Obama’s pocket. Luckily, the 65% of Americans that consistently give the POTUS favorable marks aren’t swayed by their partisan bile, nor by the NYT efforts to manufacture drama.

    — whiner X 49er
  15. 15. April 19, 2009 3:50 am Link

    Why is it often that the press likes to protray everything in a way that diminishes everybody?

    The press seems to think that Americans can only appreciate a point of view if is is presented in a polarizing fashiion. Give us some credit for having sense!
    Obama’s books do not have to stay on the top for ever for us to be appreciative his efforts to change so much that is wrong in our society and politics. Having another book top the bestseller list does not diminish the respect for the President or his ideas or better yet his efforts at governing. America can afford a variety of views without being petty. The press (journalists, editors and owners) should show some leadership in bring news to the masses without encouraging some of the polarizing language that is making it impossible for us to get together to solve the country’s serious challenges.

    Do your job—present the news in a mature way that helps the country rather than in a polarizing fashion

    — dbg25
  16. 16. April 19, 2009 8:46 am Link

    Why did they wait until a Democrat took office to publish these books? It’s very easy to sit around and play the blame game.

    — millie lencioni
  17. 17. April 19, 2009 10:37 am Link

    — g – When I moved to Arkansas from a northeastern state, I had not voted for a Democrat since 1980. Our federal rep and senators run essentially unopposed here. For my first election, I skipped over those unopposed Democrats. In 2008, I voted for the unopposed Mark Pryor because he had joined the judicial “gang of 14″. Since then, he, along with Blanche Lincoln, has been lukewarm to EFCA, so even the more liberal Senator Lincoln is becoming palatable. Vic Snyder was one of only six courageous Democrats to oppose the hideous AIG clawback legislation (90% tax). A friend in the National Guard tells me Governor Beebe is much more likely to show up for their Iraq homecomings than Huckabee, which surprised me. The people of this state do develop electable Democrats and voters can change their affiliations. I’m sure the Republicans will get back on track at some point and provide an electable alternative.

    — NC
  18. 18. April 20, 2009 10:43 am Link

    Liberty and Tyranny is a fantasic book that lays out the historical development of the individual over the state and then brings it home by showing how Obama and other statist are trying to undermine not only the individual in America, but the entire flow of history.

    — fjh3q
  19. 19. April 20, 2009 12:40 pm Link

    Common Sense and the Federalist Papers were written by intellectual elitist liberals. If by similar to the Federalist Papers this drivel is opposed to the Bill of Rights then I would probably agree.

    Conservative demagogues helped put the very GOP saboteurs in power that have wrecked the country … already they reminisce about the “good ole days” of pre-January 2009?

    The extent of non-fiction reading of which the majority of people who buy this book is limited to Guns And Ammo and Four-wheelers Quarterly.

    — plus6sigma
  20. 20. April 20, 2009 9:54 pm Link

    I’m sure there will be many more books to come from Conservatives and Fox News! The Conservatives are not even giving Barack a chance which is fine but its funny to me how they act like don’t understand the mess that the Obama administration has to clean up after the Bush Administration has left office. They need to write a book about that and I’ll most definitely read that one.

    — Ashley
  21. 21. April 21, 2009 2:17 pm Link

    Woods and Goldberg are not published by a reputable mainstream house. Regnery is a subsidized far-right imprint that went bankrupt financially. As far as intellectual bankruptcy goes, a glance at its list will show that it didn’t “go” there; that’s where it started out. I get lists of remaindered books and Regnery’s titles are heavily represented. They’re being bought, beyond the wing-nuts who believe this stuff, by jobbers who then resell them for a couple of bucks each.

    — ACW
  22. 22. July 3, 2009 5:27 pm Link

    Conservative does not eequal republican. George Bush was no conservative. Get a clue.

    — Andrew

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