Strauss a Star In Europe

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 8/21/2006

Neil Strauss apparently found it easier to pick up foreign readers than women. His memoir about transforming himself from a loser to champion pickup artist (pubbed in 2005 by Regan Books) hit the top 10 list in nonfiction in both Sweden and Spain in July. The Game was doing particularly well in Sweden, where it was #3 at the end of last month, while it hit the #7 spot in Spain.

Topping the nonfiction chart in Spain late last month was The War that Franco Has Won, a look at the Spanish Civil War on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the conflict. Readers in the Czech Republic showed lots of interest in traveling, driving and sudoku in July, with six of the top 10 nonfiction books dedicated to one of those topics.

In fiction, the more intriguing bestsellers were found below the top three spots. In ninth place in the Czech Republic was The Education of Little Tree. Written by Forrest Carter and originally published in 1976 as a memoir, the book became a U.S. bestseller in 1991—until it was revealed that Carter was, among other things, a segregationist speechwriter for George Wallace. Publisher University of New Mexico Press eventually reclassified the title as young adult fiction. Elisabetta Gnone, who helepd develop the concept for the W.I.T.C.H. series published in the U.S. by Hyperion Books for Children, has the #7 fiction title in Spain with Fairy Oaks.