Peculiar link between the markets & a 1957 novel

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2009)

Insight | North America World ... Books do not sell themselves. The Reader, the book that inspired the Oscar-winning movie, has shot up the bestseller lists. Another recent publishing success, however, has had more help from Washington, D.C., than Hollywood: Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
Reviled in some circles and mocked in others, Rand's 1957 novel of embattled capitalism is a favourite of libertarians and college students. Lately, though, its appeal has been growing.
According to TitleZ, a firm that tracks bestseller rankings on Amazon, the book's 30-day average rank on Feb. 21 was 127, well above its average over the past two years of 542. On Jan. 13 its ranking was 33, briefly besting President Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. That is what films are for...THE ECONOMY The spikes in sales of Atlas Shrugged coincide with specific developments in the economy Read full story from www.thestar.com via http://www.topix.net/forum/world/canada/TCNHU8FSGLH22H7CV