The BookFinder.com ReportAugust 2003

• Introduction
• Featured Titles
• Top 10 Lists

Introduction

It used to be the case that when a book was out of print, you were out of luck. Some collectors and hard core bibliophiles were able to make use of professional book sleuths, but for the average person, out of print titles were typically unavailable. The Internet is changing that. With the popularization of websites such as Amazon.com and BookFinder.com, even casual readers are now able to track down books not available at their local bookstores, without having to deal with middlemen.

The diversity of titles in this report reflects the increasing democratization of access to out of print titles. Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here sits side by side with Fast Times at Ridgemont High on the list of the most sought after fiction and literature titles. John Denver and Winston Churchill both make our list, as well as books about UFOs, natural farming, and ex-nuns.

The BookFinder.com Report is a measure of the most sought after out of print titles in America. We've been online since 1997, enabling individuals, libraries, and book dealers to track down and purchase books, new or used, in or out of print, rare of readily available.

Volume 1, Number 1 of the BookFinder.com Report is based on our analysis of aggregate trends for out of print book searches between January and June 2003

Featured Titles

Fast Times at Ridgemont High by Cameron Crowe

Cameron Crowe was a freelance writer for Rolling Stone when he spent a year at a Southern California high school, researching his book about school from the students' point of view. Crowe subsequently turned it into a screenplay for the popular 1982 movie of the same name. Even die-hard fans of the movie still admit that, as is so often the case, the book may have been better.

Standing Room Only by Elizabeth Fowler

The May 2003 death of accidental adventurer Elizabeth Fowler sparked a surge of interest in her autobiography, Standing Room Only. In 1945, Fowler was traveling from Africa to New York when her ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. She was the only woman among 35 survivors in a crowded lifeboat, battling sharks and rough seas for ten days. The book created a minor media sensation when it was first published some years later.

No Beast So Fierce by Edward Bunker

Edward Bunker was in San Quentin at age 17, and spent time on the FBI's Most Wanted list. He wrote his first novel, No Beast So Fierce, based on his experiences as an ex-con living in LA. The book is a cult favorite among aficionados of crime fiction. Quentin Tarantino called it "the best first person crime novel I have ever read." Unfortunately, it remains out of print in the United States, leaving readers to turn to used copies and international editions.

Top 10 Lists