So who reads the ever-increasing number of political books? Well, it turns out that its the choir that is being preached to. Take a look at these graphs, which use the amazon "people who bought this book also bought this book" to look at purchasing trends within the genre.
It appears that people don't seem to care much of what "the other side" thinks.
I generally only like political books that are written by people who have a knack for beautiful writing, are really funny, or take historical looks at current situations. Having said that, I don't read a great deal of political books. Having said that, I don't read any "right wing" books. I suppose the issue for me is that I would find it frustrating and infuriating... not what I am looking for in a book.
So here we are divided down the middle in terms of opinion in our country and we go out and buy books that make us feel good about our side. Books that only solidify our position and opinion.
Posted by dmason at October 19, 2004 11:22 AM