美国国家公共电台 NPR The Brief, Tumultuous Reign Of An Erstwhile Best-Seller

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Now a book mystery, not a mystery book. "Handbook For Mortals" is actually a fantasy paranormal romance. It hit the top of the most recent New York Times young adult best seller list, which seemed odd because not many people had ever heard of the book. NPR's Colin Dwyer takes it from there.

COLIN DWYER, BYLINE¹: For a while yesterday, the little-known debut² stood on top of the world. Then a few people on Twitter took notice. That includes Phil Stamper, who also writes young adult fiction. He was puzzled. The book had very few reviews. Its publisher, GeekNation, had never put out a book before. So Phil put his doubts in a tweet.

PHIL STAMPER: Pretty much immediately, more people in the publishing industry latched³ onto that and was like, I had the same thought. And we were just talking about that last night and, you know, on and on.

DWYER: Pretty soon, Phil and another Twitter detective got notes from booksellers. The stores said they had gotten calls asking if they reported their sales to The New York Times. When they said yes, the callers placed bulk orders for the book. By midday, The New York Times noticed the Twitter hubbub⁴. The paper removed the book from the best seller list after investigating, quote, "inconsistencies."

The book's author, Lani Sarem, denied the accusations⁵. She told NPR the book has just been promoted in unconventional ways. And it's likely we haven't heard the last of "Handbook For Mortals." Before the book was even released, the publisher announced a film adaptation. Colin Dwyer, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAVID HOLMES' "STORY OF THE INK")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

3 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hubbub   

n.嘈杂；骚乱

参考例句：

• The hubbub of voices drowned out the host's voice.嘈杂的声音淹没了主人的声音。
• He concentrated on the work in hand,and the hubbub outside the room simply flowed over him.他埋头于手头的工作，室外的吵闹声他简直象没有听见一般。

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。