HST: a numbers appreciation

After Hunter S. Thompson’s suicide last Sunday, we’ve witnessed – as expected – skyrocketing sales of his old classics. To wit: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas shot from # 1,412 on Amazon to # 23 today. Vintage has said they’ll order a “significant” reprinting.

Well, that’s all well and good, but what about these (projected) numbers:

Percentage of people ordering F&L who’ll actually read it: 14.

Percentage of buyers who will display it on their coffee table to get literary street points: 78.

Percentage of readers who think Johnny Depp wrote it, or some of it: 52.

Percentage of reprinted runs in which Douglas Brinkley will write a long foreword: 100.

Percentage of under-30 readers who’ll buy it because they miss Kurt Cobain: 9.

Percentage of over-55 readers who will do so because they miss the Sixties: 96.

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