How Readers Bought Fiction Titles—And the Non-fiction Books They Should've Bought Instead

At the General Book Fair of 2014, and again in 2019, people overwhelmingly chose to buy fiction titles. But now that we have a mortal crisis, people are clamouring for non-fiction titles to help them understand, manage, and cope. But the non-fiction titles are naturally out of stock because

1. the merchant was remarkably successful at selling the fiction titles
2. he wasn’t making any money on the non-fiction titles
3. he decided people don’t need or read non-fiction anymore
4. he lied that he’s the author of the fiction titles

Here’s a list of fiction titles that have become bestsellers since 2014:

Indian Jans and the Temple of Lotus Bloom

I Love You, O Nation, Blindly

A Passage to Akhand India

Letters from a Prisoner to the British Raj

Pride, Prejudice, and Parampara
The Small Pecker Syndrome
Fahrenheit 370
Lyncher in the Rai

To Kill a Muscleman

Bharat Mehta, Killjoy!

Angels and Demonetization

Here’s a list of non-fiction titles they should have bought instead:

The Constitution of India Bare Act with Schedules 2020
Men Explain Things to Me and Other Essays
Identity Economics
Do We Care: India’s Health System
Health Care Reforms in India: Making up for the Lost Decades
Indian Higher Education: Envisioning the Future
Pivotal Issues in Indian Education
Fanatical Schemes: Proslavery Rhetoric and the Tragedy of Consensus
Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies

If you were one of the millions who bought into the fiction oversell and are regretting now, here’s an excellent non-fiction recommendation: The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things and How to Make Wiser Decisions

If you’re mad at me for this post, you’re welcome to borrow my copy of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

Photo by Inge Wallumrød from Pexels