

Ask HN:  Do you relate to the masses? - aswanson

In browsing the Amazon topseller list, I get the eerie sense of being completely out of touch with the zeitgeist:<p>http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/ref=pd_dp_ts_b_1<p>Are you at all in tune with what most people think like and desire?
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silentbicycle
The list is an aggregate, and most people probably would only have an interest
in a couple of those. It's probably skewed towards new books, too; the sales
for things like fad diet books probably drop off quite quickly. Long-term
sales might be more interesting, as well. (Speaking as somebody who worked in
a public library for about six years, people are more likely to grab something
intriguing on a whim if it's free.)

Also, there is no "average" person, just aspects that pop up more frequently
when you combine characteristics of lots of people. Individual people, even
people you might at a first glance consider shockingly mundane, have their
interesting sides. People viewed as a group are like stones that have had most
of their interesting scratches and edges polished off.

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philwelch
Even worse, this is a topseller list of _people who still read books_.

Which is probably a minority of the US population nowadays.

~~~
aswanson
I wonder if the general stats for the books hold in other countries. It would
be interesting to see if France or Germany had the apparent weight loss and
self-help level of interest that we have.

~~~
mrdodge
[http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/books/ref=pd_ts_pg_1/279...](http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/books/ref=pd_ts_pg_1/279-4628317-7272756?ie=UTF8&pg=1)

[http://www.amazon.de/gp/bestsellers/books/ref=pd_ts_pg_1/279...](http://www.amazon.de/gp/bestsellers/books/ref=pd_ts_pg_1/279-4628317-7272756?ie=UTF8&pg=1)

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davidbnewquist
5 out of the the top 25 are self-help books on the topic of eating less.

4 of those 5 are targeted to women, 2 have the word 'girl' in the title.

3 of those 5 occupy spots in the top 4.

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evilneanderthal
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with
Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!"

I guess there's ONE thing in there I can relate to.

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davidbnewquist
7 of the top 25 are about unhumans: zombies, vampires or demi-gods.

