The annual sales figures mentioned in the OP, are they world sales figures or just one country? The books were translated into many languages, and the figures may reflect differently in English speaking countries as well as non English. In any event it's not clear how many countries sales are included in that figure.
I am appalled by book publishers in one country determining what readers in other countries may consider unpalatable (I refer specifically to the Suess books). The US, in this case, does not dictate my reading list, or the reasons that I read a book.
As to the Muppets, another recent venture into peculiar censorship, I recently watched again some of the allegedly offensive skits and wonder why some person or other has gotten their knickers in a knot- they've succeeded in bringing to life those skits ensuring their continuing perpetuity. (As most banned material is retained in perpetuity for curiosity factor if nothing else)
|