Four Books, American Literature, Paperback Edition - Page 5

For all the professed idealism of highbrow novelists and literary critics, people read books for different reasons. Some people want diversion, some people want deliverance, some people want entertainment, some people want enlightenment. The publishing industry is no less enterprising and opportunistic than any other business, and has sacrificed billions of trees over the years in pursuit of a fast buck. The advent of e-readers and direct-to-audio books may have doomed the paperback to obsolescence, so here is a tiny sampling of the titles that lured shoppers to a pulpy paradise from a revolving carrel near the check-out lanes.