Is a Best Seller Tag Enough?

Inspirations to read

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

I often ask my friends how do they choose the books. Most of them reply, “the best seller”. But I think the awarding of a certificate, money, or recognition for a literary work to one author does nothing to diminish any other author; neither does it set a mandatory bar without which a work cannot be considered of value. It’s nothing more, nothing less: it’s recognition of a work through the filter of whatever body or panel of readers and assessed that work. To turn down that award or recognition does not elevate other works, and neither does it level the playing field.

After all, if the public chooses one novel to become a best seller (by virtue of promotion of pure public interest), does that change the character of any other? I don’t buy a novel to read because it has become a best seller, and an annotation to that effect on the cover doesn’t attract me. I might buy it because I’ve read the author. I might buy it because I’m interested in the subject matter, or perhaps because someone whom I trust has recommended the book. I might even buy it out of idle curiosity, but I don’t care about the endorsements in the book jacket and I don’t care about how many million copies of that title have been sold.

If an author chooses to reject a recognition, it doesn’t sway me one way or the other; I’m no more disposed to…