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Penguin's Trade Paperback Bestsellers on Front Page of Friday's Wall Street Journal
In a rare display of attention, The Wall Street Journal dedicated a front page article to Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. Intrigued by the novel's startling success as a paperback, The Wall Street Journal examined Penguin's approach to marketing the book, uncovering 'a series of calculated moves... where executives worked to interpret sales patterns and create a marketing blitz to attract individual readers as well as book clubs.' The results have been fantastic: Eat, Pray, Love is now entering its 19th week at the #1 spot on The New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list.
The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan Hits Bookstores Monday Amidst Flurry of Major National Media Coverage
On Monday, September 17th, The Age of Turbulence, the much-anticipated book by Dr. Alan Greenspan, hit bookstores amidst a flurry of national media. Dr. Greenspan's publicity campaign kicked off this past Sunday night with an interview on "60 Minutes," followed by appearances all this week on "The Today Show," "The Daily Show," "The Charlie Rose Show," "The Newshour with Jim Lehrer," "Your World with Neil Cavuto," "Fresh Air," "All Things Considered," "The Diane Rehm Show," "Meet the Press," as well as featured interviews in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Fortune.
The Age of Turbulence is Alan Greenspan's incomparable reckoning with the nature of this new world, channeled through his own experiences working in the command room of the global economy longer and with greater effect than any other single living figure. He begins his account on that morning of September 11, but then leaps back to his childhood and follows the arc of his remarkable life's journey through his more than eighteen-year tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, from 1987 to 2006, during a time of transforming change. The distillation of a life's worth of wisdom and insight into an elegant expression of a coherent worldview, The Age of Turbulence will stand as Alan Greenspan's personal and intellectual legacy.
Jumpstart's Read for the Record Ready to Roll on September 20th
This Thursday, September 20th, marks the second annual Jumpstart Read for the Record, a day sponsored by the Pearson Foundation, when the Penguin Young Readers Group classic, The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, with drawings by Robert Lawson, will take the spotlight as people of all ages read this children's favorite and break the world record for the most individuals reading the same book in a single day. Last year's Read for the Record campaign raised more than $1 million for Jumpstart's work with preschool students.
A special, custom limited edition of The Story of Ferdinand is now on sale at Toys "R" Us, American Eagle Outfitters, Hanna Andersson, and many of Follett's college campus bookstores, and is also available online at www.readfortherecord.org. With 100% underwriting by the Pearson Foundation, all proceeds from the sales price benefit Jumpstart and its work with preschoolers from low-income communities across the country. In addition, Pearson has extended its support for Jumpstart by matching donations made by the public via the website with a donation of an additional book to another child from a low-income community.
For more information, to view Read for the Record messages from NBC's Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, and to see all the ways that Penguin and Pearson people are getting involved, visit the Pearson Foundation website at www.pearsonfoundation.org
The Joy Luck Club Selected as Miami's Book of the City, and Comes to a Theater in New York
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan has been chosen as Miami's "Book of the City" (covering Miami, and all of Dade County!). The book will also be the topic of a panel discussion at this year's Miami Book Fair, which will address the book and its impact. In addition, a theater adaptation of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club will be performed by the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York City this fall, running from October 28th - November 25th. For more information, call 212-868-4030.
The Russian Concubine Selected as #1 Book Sense Reading Group Pick
More great news for Kate Furnivall's smash hit The Russian Concubine! Independent booksellers across the country have selected the debut novel as the #1 Book Sense Reading Group Pick for the Fall 2007 - Winter 2008 season. During a pre-publication tour last June, Kate met with many independent booksellers who fell in love with her story of unlikely love in pre-revolutionary China -a story loosely based on the life of her mother.
The New York Times Bestseller Highlights for the Week of September 23rd
Six new debuts for Penguin Group (USA) on The New York Times bestseller list for the week of September 23rd: The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead) appears at #16 on the hardcover fiction list; Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (Plume) is at #18 on the trade paperback fiction list; Fresh Disasters by Stuart Woods (Signet) is at #12 on the mass market paperback list; A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink (Riverhead) is at #15 on the paperback nonfiction list; Getting Things Done by David Allen (Penguin) is at #7 on the advice, how-to, and miscellaneous paperback list; and Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Scieszka (Viking) is #10 on the children's picture book list.
In addition, Penguin Group (USA) also once again holds two #1 positions for the eighth week in a row: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) continues at #1 on the hardcover fiction list in its sixteenth week; and on the paperback nonfiction list, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) extends its run at #1 to 19 weeks in a row in its 33rd overall week.
Here are more bestseller highlights for the week of September 23rd:
On the hardcover fiction list, Dark Possession by Christine Feehan (Berkley) is at #4 in its second week.
On the trade paperback fiction list, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) rises to #2 in its 131st week; while The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin) moves up to #4 in its 64th week. On the mass market paperback fiction list, Innocent in Death by J. D. Robb (Berkley) is at #4 in its second week; and Silver Master by Jayne Castle (Jove) is at #10, also in its second week.
On the paperback nonfiction list, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Penguin) is at #4 in its second week; Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) is at #5 in its 32nd week; This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitan (Plume) is at #16 in its second week; Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks (Penguin) is at #17 in its third week; and finally, Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin) is #20 in its 19th week on the list. In the young readers sector, Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor (Dial Books for Young Readers) holds at #4 on the children's chapter book list in its third week; while Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan (Philomel) is at #10 on the children's series list in its tenth week.
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Economics and Anniversaries
Dear Mr. Greenspan,
I wanted to drop you a quick post to let you know how much I enjoyed The Age of Turbulence. Twenty five years ago on the way to Bermuda with my new bride Barbara for our honeymoon I happened to pickup Milton Freidman’s then recently released Free to Choose. I can’t say it was the most exciting thing I did on my honeymoon but thanks to Milton’s I, Pencil story I did begin married life with a working knowledge of a free market economy.
As fate would have it 25 years later in the midst of celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary The Age of Turbulence was released. Well, having not read a book by an economist in 25 years I thought it was time to update my knowledge of the of the economy. After reading your book I’m relieved to know that in spite of the new world order the mechanics of our economy haven't changed all the much. The “invisible hand” is still at work and with some help from the Fed now and then our free market economy continues to move forward.
Therefore I’m thinking that it’s safe to wait another 25 years for my 50th wedding anniversary to roll around before partaking of my next installment. By then hopefully someone of your caliber will have emerged.
Best of luck with the book.
Mark Corgan
Clinton, NJ