奥巴马休假时读什么书?

过去八年，这个问题一直不是那么明显；不过美国总统确实可以带动图书销量大幅攀升，正如当年克林顿总统(Bill Clinton)一言带动犯罪小说作家莫斯里(Walter Mosley)的书热卖一样。他们对图书销售的号召力堪比欧普拉等大牌节目主持人。
This hasn't been much of an issue the past eight years, but presidents, as we recall from Bill Clinton and Walter Mosley, can sell books with the likes of Colbert, Imus and Oprah.

自从白宫公布了美国总统奥巴马(Obama)上周在玛莎葡萄园度假时所看的书名之后，政治网站Politico查看了亚马逊的销量榜，看看这5本书的销售有没有明显攀升。之所以查看亚马逊的销量数据，是因为现在要从其他来源获得图书销量数据还为时过早。
Politico checked Amazon ─ it's too early to get data from other sources ─ to see if sales have spiked for the five titles that the White House said President Obama was reading during his Martha's Vineyard vacation.

这 5本书分别是：乔治．佩雷坎诺斯(George Pelecanos)的惊险小说《回家的路》(The Way Home)、理查德．普莱斯(Richard Price)的城市犯罪小说《奢华生活》(Lush Life)、《纽约时报》专栏作家托马斯．弗雷德曼(Thomas L. Friedman)的《世界又热又平又拥挤》(Hot, Flat and Crowded)、历史作家大卫．麦库劳夫(David McCullough)关于美国第二任总统的《约翰．亚当斯》(John Adams)和肯特．哈鲁夫（Kent Haruf）的小说《单声圣歌》(Plainsong)。
The books were George Pelecanos's 'The Way Home,' Richard Price's 'Lush Life,' Tom Friedman's 'Hot, Flat and Crowded,' David McCullough's 'John Adams' and Kent Haruf's 'Plainsong.' :

《回家的路》目前在亚马逊的畅销书排行榜上位列第965位，远远高于奥巴马看书清单周一宣布时的第33,349位。其他几本书的情况如下：
'The Way Home is now at sales rank 965 on Amazon.com's Best Seller list, up from 33,349 when Obama's list was first announced Monday. The others:

《奢华生活》：此前第74,289位，目前第981位。' Lush Life': From No. 74,289 to No. 981 today.
《世界又热又平又拥挤》：此前第231位，目前第73位。'Hot, Flat and Crowded': From 231 to 73.
《约翰．亚当斯》：此前第14,301位，目前第784位。'John Adams': 14,301 to 784.
《单声圣歌》：此前第8,155位，目前第580位。'Plainsong': 8,155 to 580.

当然，要在亚马逊畅销书榜单上大幅上升并不需要太多的销量。但所谓的“总统效应”还是很明显的：在每本书的介绍最后，亚马逊网上按惯例列出了“顾客在浏览了这本书后，最终购买了什么书？”的名单。你猜哪些书出现在这个名单上？其他四本。To be sure, it doesn't take many sales to move the needle on Amazon. But the presidential effect is clear: when Amazon asks on the site, 'What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?', guess what books come up pretty much every time? The other four.