Joking By the Numbers

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 8/15/2005

5: Number of books by comedian Bill Maher

125,000: Copies sold of Maher's biggest book, When You Ride Alone, You Ride with bin Laden

1: Sales rank of Tim Allen on list of bestselling modern comedian authors

1.2 million: Number of hardcover copies sold of Allen's 1994 smash, Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man

400,000: Number of copies sold thus far of Jon Stewart's America (The Book) 7: Number of books by comedians that sold at least 200,000 copies annually in 1994, 1995 or 1996

2: Number of books by comedians that sold at least 200,000 copies annually in 2002, 2003 or 2004

0: Number of books by comedians among PW's Top 10 Bestselling Books of the '90s

4: Number of books by New Age authors and spiritualists among PW's Top 10 Bestselling Books of the '90s