The Indie Bookstore Map: The Best-Selling Books in September
My Brilliant Friend and/or The Story of the Lost Child, by Elena Ferrante
Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C.
Birchbark Books, Minneapolis
Unabridged Books, Chicago
McNally Jackson, New York
Elena Ferrante, the pseudonymous author behind “The Neapolitan Novels” (of which these two books are part one and four, respectively) spoke with V.F.’s Elissa Schappell in August, noting her aversion to publicity and notoriety. Without surprise, the books have been something of a sensation around the country, topping the best-seller lists of four stores we spoke to. A rep for D.C.’s Politics and Prose noted that both books were “waaay at the top,” while at Unabridged Books in Chicago, they attributed its success to being a favorite of the store’s owner and personally recommended by many of the store’s staff.