“Phenomenal.” “Incredible.” “Out of this world.” Words used by local book dealers to describe sales of “The Bell Curve,” the shocker that argues IQ is destiny and that blacks are genetically less smart than whites or Asians. “It’s as hot as the Nicole Brown Simpson book,” says Don Hailman, of Kroch’s & Brentano’s on South Wabash, paying the book the ultimate compliment. Kroch’s, Waterstone’s and Rizzoli’s all reported selling out in the first weeks, and the New York publisher, Free Press, tells us it augmented the original print run of 50,000 copies with another 150,000.
More intriguing than how many are buying “The Bell Curve” is who’s buying. Large numbers of African-Americans are snapping it up, with many stores reporting “an equal mix” of blacks and whites asking for it. At Super Crown the other day, two black customers ahead of me in line requested the book and were told by the clerk, also black, that it was out of stock. She then let it drop that she was halfway through her own copy. Soooooo? “It’s interesting,” she deadpanned.
