By Dennis Abrams
BookFinder.com has issued its 12th annual list of the top 100 most searched for out-of-print books from the previous year.
This year’s list has seen changes from the previous year, most notably, the drop in position of Madonna’s Sex, which dropped down two places down on the chart.
And surprisingly, as the reports notes:
“American readers now seem to have a keen interest in the ineptitude of British military leaders with On the Psychology of Military Incompetence’by Norman F Dixon leading the list. The book dives into combat futility by using a fascinating series of examples of utter ineptitude throughout the 100 years prior to the book’s writing from the Crimean War to the Boer War and the disastrous ‘Market Garden’ operation of WWII. Dixon analyzes poor decision-making (or sometimes the lack of decision-making at all) from a psychological point of view.”
So now, without further ado, the top ten most searched for out-of-print titles:
10. Collector’s Guide to Colt .45 Service Pistols by Charles W. Clawson
Clawson Publications; Fort Wayne, IN, 2003
Hardcover; Reprint; 146 pages; 24 cm
It’s been called the definitive Bible of Colt of Cold Model 1911 handguns.
9. 365 Bedtime Stories by Nan Gilbert (1920-2011)
Western Pub. Co.; Racine, WI, 1970
Hardcover, Reprint; 382 pages color illustrations; 27 cm
First published in 1955, the book has a story for every day of the year.
8. On the Nature and Existence of God by Richard M. Gale
Cambridge University Press; Norwalk, CT, 1999
Paperback, Reprinted; 422 pages; 23 cm
First published in 1991, the book is currently available only in a POD edition.
7. The Road We Are Traveling: 1914-1942 by Stuart Chase
The Twentieth Century Fund; New York, NY, 1942
Hardcover; First Edition; 106 pages
There was a revival of interest in this title after Glenn Beck “linked” it to a Barack Obama campaign video called “The Road We’ve Travelled.”
6. The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
Hard Case Crime; New York, NY, 2005
Paperback; First Edition; 184 pages
Written by King for the Hard Case Crime imprint, The Colorado Kid was a paperback-only edition.
5. Rage by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)
Signet; New York, NY, 1977
Paperback, First Edition; 211 pages. 18 cm
The was the first novel written by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, later collected in 1985 as part of the hardcover collection The Bachman Books. King let Rage go out of print when it became too closely associated with several school shootings in the 1980s and ’90s.
4. The Body by Stephen King
Pearson; New York, NY, 2008
Paperback; First Edition; 88 pages
The basis for the film “Stand By Me.”
3. Sex by Madonna (i.e. Louise Veronica Ciccione)
Warner Books; New York, NY, 1992
Full-Metal, Spiral Bound; First Edition; 132 pages; 32 cm
2. Lovely Reed: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Building Bamboo Fly Rods by Jack Howell
Pruett; Boulder, CO, 1998
Hardcover; First Edition; 191 pages
Described as a “lively, conversational, step-by-step book on how to build one’s own bamboo fly rod.”
1. On the Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman F. Dixon
Basic Books; New York, NY, 1976
Hardcover; First Edition; 447 pages; 21 cm
“This unique and penetrating book surveys 100 years of military inefficiency from the Crimean War, through the Boer conflict, to the disastrous campaigns of the First World War and the calamities of the Second. It examines the social psychology of military organizations, provides case studies of individual commanders and identifies an alarming pattern in the causes of military disaster.”
To see the top 100 list in its entirety, click here.