Dan Brown, Oxfam Star

Frank Wilson has a few telling thoughts about Dan Brown and links to an interesting longer piece. I rather doubt if Dan Brown's books (if that is what they are) will be on many people's shelves too far into the future. He might prove to be one of those megasellers whose success baffles future generations - like, say, Marie Corelli or Hall Caine - because their works too precisely reflect the preoccupations of their time (in Brown's case a post-9/11 need to decode some simple deeper meaning below the surface of events). There's perhaps some evidence that Brown's books aren't for keeping in the fact that they are the most commonly donated to Oxfam shops. Does anyone reread Brown, I wonder? It's interesting that Ian Rankin still outsells him in Oxfam shops - and odd that so few of the authors on the most donated list are also among the top sellers. Presumably their books are quietly disposed of...