More DVC
Steven Riddle emailed me with a counterpoint that I could've/should've anticipated. He said that there's nothing sinister about Brown's sales because:
"I would point out that... Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy and others routinely sell this well or perhaps a bit better. Further, I would point out that the errors in Crichton are every bit as profound, pernicious, and irritating at those in the DaVinci Code, but they don't happen to reflect on religion."
This is true, but I think that errors regarding religion are more catastrophic than errors in science since the former involves the soul, the latter the body. But Steven makes a good point on the ability of fluff to have large sales.
The only answer I have to that is that, whatever their merits, Crichton & Clancy & others are living off the fame of their past books. They are a name brand now and could put out anything and it would sell. The key is their FIRST book, their break-out book. DVC is Brown's break-out book and there is something in a breakout book that might say something about a culture...
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