Spotlight On… Benedict Books
A Flood of Titles on the New Pope, But Which Are Selling?
by Heidi Schlumpf, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 11/30/2005
It's been seven months since white smoke rose above St. Peter's in Rome and the world learned of the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. In those short months a near deluge of books about Pope Benedict XVI has been published—many, unfortunately, to disappointing sales. But a few have risen above the rest, and they have one thing in common: a well-known, well-respected, media-savvy author, be it George Weigel, John Allen Jr., or the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger himself.
Weigel's credibility comes from his bestselling biography of Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II (Witness to Hope, HarperCollins, 1999) and from his position as a Vatican analyst for NBC News. In the recently released God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church (HarperCollins, Nov.), the conservative Weigel not surprisingly sees Benedict as the perfect choice to succeed the beloved John Paul II.
"He is the best person to write this book, and the media know that," executive editor Tim Duggan said of Weigel. Although it was not in the early wave of titles on the new pope, God's Choice currently leads the pack in Amazon's rankings. Thanks to coverage on the Today Show, an essay by Weigel in Newsweek, and the mailing of signed copies to every U.S. bishop, it has already gone back to press.
Another media-savvy commentator is John Allen Jr., columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, CNN's Vatican analyst, and author of an earlier Ratzinger biography (re-released by Continuum in May as Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger). Allen's latest on the new pope is The Rise of Benedict XVI (Doubleday, June).
The new book's success on the Catholic bestseller list, with some 60,000 copies shipped, is due in part to its early release, said editorial director Trace Murphy—"The key was to get the book out as quickly as possible." And sales are expected to continue, as Allen, respected by liberals and conservatives alike, hits the road to promote his next book, Opus Dei (Doubleday, Dec.).
Another popular biography, with well over 20,000 copies sold, is Pope Benedict XVI: A Personal Portrait (Crossroad, May) by German journalist H.J. Fischer, who has known Ratzinger since the 1970s. Already in the works with Crossroad's German parent company Herder & Herder, the book was released early and has sold well among non-Catholics as well as Catholics, editorial director John Jones told RBL. "It's the best book in English for really getting at the personality of the new pope."
With all these words being written about Pope Benedict, it's easy to forget that he has been a prolific author himself. Although several publishers offer books by the former Cardinal Ratzinger, Ignatius Press has emerged as the go-to source for English translations of his works. Six of Ignatius's top 10 bestselling books of the month, according to their Web site, are Ratzinger titles. The top sellers include God Is Near Us (2003), Truth and Tolerance (2004), and Introduction to Christianity (2004).
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