The Decline of Western Civilization

I recently stumbled on a site that will list all the New York Times bestsellers for the week of your birth. Here are the fiction bestsellers for my week in 1955:

1    MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR Herman Wouk

2   AUNTIE MAME Patrick Dennis

3   ANDERSONVILLE MacKinlay Kantor

4   THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT Sloan Wilson

5   THE TONTINE Thomas B. Costain

6   CASH McCALL Cameron Hawley

7   THE DEER PARK Norman Mailer

8   SOMETHING OF VALUE Robert Ruark

9   A CHARMED LIFE Mary McCarthy

10 BONJOUR TRISTESSE Francoise Sagan

11 HERITAGE Anthony West

12 THE PROPHET Sholem Asch

13 BAND OF ANGELS Robert Penn Warren

14 THESE LOVERS FLED AWAY Howard Spring

15 THE SMILING REBEL Harnett T. Kane

 16 PAPA'S WIFE Thyra Ferre Bjorn

And what about for the current week in 2011? Of the top ten hardcover fiction bestsellers, five are mysteries or thrillers and one is a Star Wars novel. Of the remaining five in the top fifteen, one involves vampires and one is a Harlequin romance. Possibly this means that the reading audience is broader than ever before. More likely, it just means we're getting dumber.