How the Right Rigs the Book Game

[applegrove]

How the Right Rigs the Book Game

May 31, 2022 at 9:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2022/05/31/how-the-right-rigs-the-book-game/

"SNIP......

Dan Pfeiffer: “Republicans are older and more likely to buy books. Just like they are more likely to watch cable television. But the success of Right Wing books is not an accident. It’s all part of a very specific, well-funded effort to push Right Wing messaging and create the illusion of wide-spread support for discredited ideas.”

......SNIP"

[keep_left]

1. Yep. Not a new scam, either. At least a decade ago, the NYT Book Review...

...started placing a little symbol next to certain book titles. It was a little cross or dagger, as I recall. The NYT apparently has sources at book sellers which report large bulk sales to them, which obviously do not represent grass-roots book buying. All too often what's going on--especially with the moronic books "written" by Donald Trump Jr, etc.--is that "think" tanks, right-wing foundations, and Republican party organizations are buying massive quantities of books and then giving them away at their rubber-chicken fundraising dinners. Anything they can't give away either goes to the dollar stores or is shredded.

[kimbutgar]

2. I saw a bunch of Sarah Palins book once at a dollar store!

And also a bunch of other right wing books.

Once I moved a guy that had this Library of right wing books by numerous right wing people. As we were packing them we noticed none of the spines showed any wear of being read. This guy. Had spent thousands of dollars donating to republicans who sent him these books! By the time we finished packing him his wife filed divorce papers and said she had had enough of him! The last time I saw her she said it was the best thing she ever did!

[keep_left]

3. That doesn't surprise me, whether it's the quantity of books or the fact that they were...

...never read. Your story reminded me that I forgot to mention another source for those bulk buys: all the moronic right-wing networks, magazines, and book clubs. I know that NewsMax, WorldNut...er...WorldNetDaily, and similar "news" purveyors were giving out lots of those right-wing books with subscriptions. I'm sure they still are.

[meadowlander]

7. David Brooks documented this in one of his mea culpa books shortly after 9/11.

There were coordinated efforts to bulk buy books within a short period of time so they would jump to the top of the bestseller list. Lots of the books were just thrown away after that. The point was to create an illusion of popularity, and transfer money to the author, not to actually sell the books.

In retrospect, this was probably another avenue for money laundering for them.

[Initech]

4. There was a time when my local Costco's bookshelves were stacked with nothing but right wing shit.

And I hate every time I'm there and I still see right wing crap.

[kimbutgar]

5. When I see them at Costco I have sometimes turned them over and replaced them with another

Book! I saw KellyAnne Conways book at Costco last week. Grrrr…. She obviously had it photoshopped to show flawless skin and some major cosmetic surgery recently.

[Initech]

6. Yeah I've done that too!

I once replaced copies of Dinesh D'Souza with the latest from Janet Evanovich.