Earlier Was Better
by Daisy Maryles -- Publishers Weekly, 7/29/2002
The latest summer nonfiction bestseller is Why I Am a Catholic by Garry Wills. Originally scheduled for October, Houghton Mifflin moved publication up to July 16 after strong demand for an earlier sales date from booksellers at this past BEA. The change of timing was a good idea, as the book went right onto the national charts, landing on PW's list in the #11 slot this week. Wills is on a national tour, during which booksellers are holding off-site events in religious and spiritual venues—Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago in conjunction with Barbara's Bookstore; Unity Temple in Kansas City with Rainy Day Books; Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Pacific Palisades/L.A. with Village Books; Pax Christi Catholic Church in Minneapolis with Ruminator Books; and the Spiritual Reading series in Seattle with University Bookstore. "Why are you still a Catholic?" was the question most asked of Wills after his controversial Papal Sin appeared in 2000. Houghton Mifflin's first printing for the new book was 75,000 copies; two more trips to press for 25,000 and 10,000 bring the total to 110,000.
