where are word count statistics for best sellers, specifically The Road my McCarthy?

Prawn · Nov 21, 2007

I remember discussion of a site where you could get word counts of best sellers. I looked on Amazon and B and N and didn't see it. I read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy last night, and it was a fast read. I was wondering what the word count was. Can someone point me to a site? I tried the search function here and of course "WORD COUNT" brought me a bajillion hits.

miles · Nov 21, 2007

I read somewhere it's about 60,000 words. Problem is, I don't know where I read that.

Prawn · Nov 21, 2007

I thought it felt more like a Novella. I would be surprised if it was 60 K. It was brilliant work, and its length were part of the spare narrative style, but it sure seemed short.

reenkam · Nov 21, 2007

58, 702 words

link to word count site

scribbler1382 · Nov 21, 2007

Prawn said:
I remember discussion of a site where you could get word counts of best sellers. I looked on Amazon and B and N and didn't see it. I read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy last night, and it was a fast read. I was wondering what the word count was. Can someone point me to a site? I tried the search function here and of course "WORD COUNT" brought me a bajillion hits.

Amazon lets you see the stats of some books. If it says "Search Inside" on it, you can hover your mouse over the picture and get a popup menu. Choose Text Stats to see some cool metrics. How accurate they are, is another story.

Prawn · Nov 21, 2007

I couldn't get amazon to work. 59K won the Pulitzer. I bet a new novelist would have trouble getting so short a novel considered for publication.

mikeland · Nov 21, 2007

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan and Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon are two other examples of really short recent novels by established names. I couldn't find word counts for either on the mentioned website.

I agree with Prawn that a first-time novelist doesn't get away with that. Probably. Anyone got a good example of a really short debut novel?

Maybe Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman, but he was already pretty well known before that was published.

Prawn · Nov 21, 2007

Let me say that the spare style of the story did not warrant a longer treatment. I was just surprised that it was so short.

DVGuru · Nov 21, 2007

mikeland said:
Anyone got a good example of a really short debut novel?

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is 49,962 words according to Amazon Text Stats.

Shady Lane · Nov 21, 2007

hmmm...Hannah Moskowitz's The Sublime is 24,000.

Sorry. Couldn't help that.

where are word count statistics for best sellers, specifically The Road my McCarthy?

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

miles

agent at The Knight Agency

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

reenkam

aka cupcake

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

mikeland

Call me Pookie

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

DVGuru

Plays too many video games

Shady Lane

my name is hannah