The Revolution Might Be Televised
Fox News host Mark R. Levin has the #1 book in the country with American Marxism, a treatise on “the counterrevolution” whose goal is the imposition of autocratic rule. “In America, many Marxists cloak themselves in phrases like ‘progressives,’ ‘Democratic Socialists,’ ‘social activists,’ ‘community activists,’ etc., as most Americans remain openly hostile to the name Marxism,” he writes. “And they claim to promote ‘economic justice,’ ‘racial equity,’ ‘gender equity,’ etc.”
Elsewhere on the list, and in terms of perspective, Landslide by Michael Wolff is #3 in hardcover nonfiction and #4 in the country. “Efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results were more of a chaotic ‘shit show’ than a coordinated ‘Big Lie,’ according to this colorful if myopic account of the months leading up to Donald Trump’s exit from the White House,” our review said.
One notch below on the hardcover nonfiction list, Frankly, We Did Win This Election by Michael C. Bender covers similar ground. “Wall Street Journal reporter Bender debuts with an immersive, blow-by-blow rundown of Donald Trump’s failed reelection campaign,” our review said. “Though the analysis often feels rote, Bender’s insider access impresses, and he enriches the narrative with a sharp sense of humor, describing Trump’s first debate performance against Joe Biden as a ‘hurricane of assholery.’ ”
Well Supported
At #12 in hardcover fiction, The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix is “a wildly entertaining romp through the conventions of horror’s slasher film subgenre,” our starred review said. “Hendrix masterfully evokes the paranoid existences of his diverse cast in the aftermath of their traumatic ordeals.” Hendrix’s paperback sales surpassed those of his hardcover releases until 2020’s The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, which has sold 59K print units since its release. Based on the new book’s opening week, the trend seems likely to continue.
Amber’s Waves of Grain
Artist Amber Share debuts at #8 on our hardcover nonfiction list with Subpar Parks, based on her 357K-follower Instagram account of the same name. She pulls a salient quote from a one-star review of each park (e.g. Didn’t Even Get to Touch Lava—Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park) and illustrates it in streamlined WPA style. History, park ranger tips, and other vignettes abound: a sporting bracket details the runners-up and winner of 2020’s Fat Bear Week in Alaska’s Katmai National Park, and in response to the reviewer who deemed Glacier National Park in Montana “too cold for me,” Share muses, “Apparently calling the park Glacier wasn’t a strong enough hint as to the climate of the area.”
NEW & NOTABLE
THE CELLIST
Daniel Silva
#1 Hardcover Fiction, #2 overall
Silva’s 21st espionage thriller starring art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon kicks off with the fatal poisoning of a Russian billionaire; a gifted musician may hold the answers.
AN UGLY TRUTH
Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang
#18 Hardcover Nonfiction
“New York Times reporters Frenkel and Kang debut with a paragon of investigative journalism in this insiders’ account of the scandals and toxic culture at social media giant Facebook,” our starred review said. “Though CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg refused to be interviewed, both come vividly to life, the latter a ‘master manager’ and advertising guru, the former an operator who’s affable in public and ruthless behind the scenes.”
