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Criticisms of “The Body Keeps the Score”

(josepheverettwil.substack.com)
250 points adityaathalye | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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hrimfaxi ◴[] No.45673782[source]
> Chances are, you’ve heard of The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. At 79,898 reviews, the book has more reviews on Amazon than the first book of A Game of Thrones.

> “The Body Keeps the Score has spent 248 weeks on the New York Times paperback-nonfiction best-seller list and counting. To date, it’s sold 3 million copies and been translated into 37 languages.”

Wow 3 million copies despite being translated into 37 languages? The Game of Thrones finale had 19 million viewers. I don't know anyone who has heard of this book and even if all of the 3 million copies were sold to Americans, only 1 in 11 of them would have heard of it.

replies(3): >>45673804 #>>45673855 #>>45673959 #
1. jerlam ◴[] No.45673959[source]
Also, why would the number of Amazon reviews be a valid metric for popularity? Game of Thrones came out almost 30 years ago. People who bought and read the book probably didn't buy it from Amazon and aren't going to write a review for it now.