Five Billion Sold – David Glynn

This is essentially a series of brief profiles of blockbuster authors, the sense of reading a magazine exacerbated by the extensive use of pictures, generally leaden prose and even pull-out quotes.

As for the subjects, there are two I think are fine (Tolkien, Pratchett), a few I had never heard of (Louis L’Amour, Nora Roberts), and quite a number for whom I feel active contempt (Lee Childs, Jeffrey Archer, James Patterson). 

Did you know that when Anne Rice was born she was christened Howard?