Some Amazon-ranking Weirdness

I think this shows how meaningless (and volatile) those Amazon rankings are.

Since my feeble attempts at publicity for AYN RAND NATION yesterday afternoon - just on this blog, which I've shamefully neglected since starting my weekly Street.com column some months ago, my long-unrevised website and on Twitter and Facebook - my Amazon rankings went from 3 million to 69,000 and now (and for the next few hours, I guess) it's the best-selling Ayn Rand biography.

All this is nice, considering that the publication date is five months away. It's doubly nice that a book that is not an Ayn Rand biography is, momentarily, the best-selling Ayn Rand biography. It's an examination of Rand's influence on modern American society. But I guess that category comes closest to describing the book.

Be that as it may, I am gratified that apparently some people out there are making a long-term investment in the book. By all means pre-order it by clicking here. I believe that Amazon doesn't bill you until it's shipped, but don't hold me to it.

© 2011 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.