Travel Forum / Travel Types / Air Travel / February 2005

Ailing pope's latest bestseller leaps off shelves

ROME (AFP) - Pope John Paul II's publishers have never had trouble
selling his books, but now that the pontiff is ailing in hospital they
can barely keep up with demand.

The prolific pontiff's latest bestseller, "Memory and Identity:
Conversations Spanning Millenniums," has been flying off the shelves
since it came out on Wednesday, with copies being snapped up at the
rate of up to 100 a day, bookstores across Rome report.

"We're selling really a lot of copies," said the cashier at the
Feltrinelli bookshop in the central Largo Argentina square, where the
book was prominently displayed Saturday, with another 200 copies
stacked on the floor.

"Memory and Identity," his fifth book as pope, had an exceptional
first print run of 330,000 copies, and publisher Rizzoli said Saturday
it had ordered another 30,000 because stocks were about to run out.

Rizzoli, which also publishes the Italian daily Corriere della Sera,
has already contracted for 14 foreign editions including English and
French as well as Korean, Croatian and the pope's native Polish.

The 84-year-old pontiff reflects in the book on the most challenging
issues and events of his era, including terrorism and the attempt on
his life in 1981. He also sparked controversy by likening abortion to
the Holocaust of the Jews.

"Crossing the Threshold of Hope," his first book written with Italian
journalist Vittorio Messori, has sold nearly 20 million copies in 32
languages. Sales are still brisk, with 1.5 million copies sold last
year in Italy alone, and another five million around the world.

Other bestsellers include a book of poetic meditations on death, the
autobiographical "Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way" which has sold half a
million in Italy, and "Gift and Mystery" marking the 50th anniversary
of the pope's ordination in 1996, explaining his call to God.

All royalties from John Paul II's books go into a charitable fund.

In addition to his books, the pope has written hundreds of
encyclicals, or teachings, decrees, letters, sermons and talks, many
of which have been compiled into volumes such as "John Paul II's Book
of Mary" and "Springtime of Evangelization," which deals with issues
of reviving the Catholic faith in the United States.

And what is likely to be his swan song is one more title to be
published in April: "The Loving Heart."