{"id":774,"date":"2008-06-05T02:38:18","date_gmt":"2008-06-05T02:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2008\/06\/05\/philip-k-dick-topples-the-american-canon\/"},"modified":"2012-08-17T05:19:38","modified_gmt":"2012-08-17T05:19:38","slug":"philip-k-dick-topples-the-american-canon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2008\/06\/05\/philip-k-dick-topples-the-american-canon\/","title":{"rendered":"Philip K Dick Topples the American Canon"},"content":{"rendered":"

This bit<\/a> comes from Media Bistro<\/span>:<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quote:<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
When the Library of America<\/span><\/a>‘s publicist informed me that last year’s collection of four classic Philip K. Dick<\/span> novels was their fastest-selling title ever, I was pleasantly surprised, but I wanted some proof. LOA marketing manager Brian McCarthy<\/span> was happy to oblige, informing me that the Library had shipped 23,750 copies of Four Novels of the 1960s<\/span>\u2014the better part of two complete print runs\u2014and that returns were a "staggeringly low" 5 percent. By way of comparison, the Library’s last major foray into science fiction and fantasy, the H.P. Lovecraft<\/span> Tales<\/span> published in 2005, sold 11,860 copies (with a similar return rate) in its first year (with gross sales-to-date now standing at 26,000-plus.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

This is better than other more traditional LoA "heavy-hitters" such as the first collection of Jack Kerouac novels (shipped just under 15,000 copies in its first year, with a return rate of 10 percent), two-volume collection of Edmund Wilson’s critical writings (9250 and 12%) and the American Poetry: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries<\/span> anthology (4200 and 8%).<\/p>\n

And the trend should continue with the second PKD volume (Five Novels of the 1960s and 70s<\/span><\/a> which includes Martian Time-Slip<\/span>, Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb<\/span>, Now Wait for Last Year<\/span>, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said<\/span>, and A Scanner Darkly<\/span>). The book is not due out until July 31 and pre-orders already exceed 10,000.<\/p>\n

It’s a good time to be a Dickhead!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This bit comes from Media Bistro: Quote: When the Library of America‘s publicist informed me that last year’s collection of four classic Philip K. Dick novels was their fastest-selling title ever, I was pleasantly surprised, but I wanted some proof. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n