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Domestic News
January 10, 1959
Kodiak Mirror
Kodiak, Alaska
What is this article about?
Book-of-the-Month Club members set a sales record for Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago after his 1958 Nobel Prize win and refusal, with over 150,000 copies ordered, potentially reaching 250,000, plus 400,000 from publishers.
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OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
Big Sales Record
On "DR. Zhivago"
Five years ago the Book-of-the-Month Club first began to offer an alternate book which their members might choose in preference to the regular selection for that month. The alternate selection for November 1958, announced early the previous month, was Doctor Zhivago, the widely acclaimed Russian novel by Boris Pasternak. Member acceptance of this alternate was strong but not exceptional until the world learned that Mr. Pasternak had won the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature. Immediately there was a sharp increase in orders, and when the news broke that Mr. Pasternak had refused to accept the Prize the sale reached landslide volume. To date, more copies of Doctor Zhivago have been ordered by Club members than any other single alternate selection in the same period of time. They are now around 150,000 and are likely to go to a quarter million, according to one of the officials of the Club. This sale is to Club members only; in addition, the publishers, Pantheon Books, Inc., report a sale of over 400,000.
On "DR. Zhivago"
Five years ago the Book-of-the-Month Club first began to offer an alternate book which their members might choose in preference to the regular selection for that month. The alternate selection for November 1958, announced early the previous month, was Doctor Zhivago, the widely acclaimed Russian novel by Boris Pasternak. Member acceptance of this alternate was strong but not exceptional until the world learned that Mr. Pasternak had won the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature. Immediately there was a sharp increase in orders, and when the news broke that Mr. Pasternak had refused to accept the Prize the sale reached landslide volume. To date, more copies of Doctor Zhivago have been ordered by Club members than any other single alternate selection in the same period of time. They are now around 150,000 and are likely to go to a quarter million, according to one of the officials of the Club. This sale is to Club members only; in addition, the publishers, Pantheon Books, Inc., report a sale of over 400,000.
What sub-type of article is it?
Economic
What keywords are associated?
Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak
Nobel Prize
Book Sales
Book Of The Month Club
What entities or persons were involved?
Boris Pasternak
Domestic News Details
Event Date
November 1958
Key Persons
Boris Pasternak
Outcome
over 150,000 copies ordered by book-of-the-month club members, likely reaching 250,000; publishers pantheon books, inc. report sales over 400,000.
Event Details
The Book-of-the-Month Club offered Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak as an alternate selection for November 1958. Sales increased sharply after Pasternak won and then refused the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature, setting a record for alternate selections.