The Times Book Review Index

by tristero

[NOTE: Please see update at end of post.]

For several years now, when Saturday rolls around and we receive the New York Times Book Review in our paper, I have been in the habit of totting up the number of left-leaning and right-leaning books on the hardcover non-fiction besteller list. It’s probably a worthless exercise, so far I haven’t perceived a trend I can correlate to anything, except maybe to election cycles where more rightwing books make the list. But I thought it might amuse you as well so here is this week’s tally based on the online bestseller list which seems one week ahead, strangely enough, of the printed one (dated July 2 instead of July 25). In any event, I only look at the official (to be printed) list of top 15.

Now caveat lector, boys and girls. Of course, to anyone with even a smattering of statistics, the whole enterprise is a hopelessly crude metric (and of absolutely nothing to boot). At the very least, the index should also weight length of time on the list and relative placement, if not also take into account actual sales. As for determination of political leanings, sometimes they are open to serious question as they are this week with all three “left” bestsellers (and perhaps two of the authors on the “right” might object to my forcing them to share the red bed, ideologically speaking of course, with Coulter). You wanna make a better NYT Bestseller Index, be my guest.

Anyway…

It’s a tie this week, 3 to 3.

Left:

Cooper: DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE
Friedman: THE WORLD IS FLAT
Levitt/Dubner: FREAKONOMICS

Right:

Russert: WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS
Coulter: GODLESS
Stossel : MYTHS, LIES, AND DOWNRIGHT STUPIDITY

[UPDATE: Some folks in comments have objected that at best the so-called “left” books are centrist or centrist-right. DukeJ astutely observes: “[A]re we so conditioned that we see centrists or even ‘objective’ journalists as representing the left?”

Good point. He’s exactly right. If the index has any utility at all, it is as a stark demonstration of precisely how constipated our public discourse on politics has become. With this in mind, perhaps it is worthwhile (but only a little) to track the index as the election season progresses.]