Alexandra Dane, "White Literary Taste Production in Contemporary Book Culture" (Cambridge UP, 2023)
New Books in Critical Theory
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The Effects of the New York Times Bestseller Lists on Book Sales
"I wanted to understand the performative nature of these lists, and how they demonstrate the way that white culture engages with books by black authors," she says. "What I found fascinating is that at the peak of their popularity in 2020, they did actually have an effect on sales." The proportion of black authors on the New York Times bestseller lists increased during this time but it was only for nonfiction books about racism.
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