In January, a few days after a narcissistic television personality best known for gold-stamping his name on everything he owns was inaugurated to a position for which he was neither suited nor qualified, a 68-year-old novel leapt to the top of independent bookstores' best seller lists and Amazon sales charts. This is not the first time that sales of George Orwell's 1984 have been boosted by current events — a similar jump occurred in 2013 in the wake of Edward Snowden's first revelations about NSA spying — but some see the current popularity of the novel as especially pertinent.…
In January, a few days after a narcissistic television personality best known for gold-stamping his name on everything he owns was inaugurated to a position for which he was neither suited nor qualified, a 68-year-old novel leapt to the top of independent bookstores' best seller lists and Amazon sales charts. This is not the first time that sales of George Orwell's 1984 have been boosted by current events — a similar jump occurred in 2013 in the wake of Edward Snowden's first revelations about NSA spying — but some see the current popularity of the novel as especially pertinent.…