Along with such classics like War and Peace and Catcher in the Rye, esteemed literature like What Would Jesus Do? and Как закалялась сталь dominate Wikipedia’s bestsellers list. Even more illuminating are the entries for these time-tested masterpieces, which, unlike Sparknotes or exhaustive Wikipedia entries, won’t make you feel like you’ve read the entire book in a few minutes for an exam or essay. Scroll through these Top 10 worst Wikipedia entries of top bestsellers for a pinch of salt and abundant hope that your next novel can sell millions of copies.
Author: Louise Hay
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 27 / 50 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: Using tools like mirror work and affirmations, diseases can be healed by emotional thought patterns.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “The theories described in this book have been criticized as groundless by proponents of evidence based medicine. Specific passages within Hay’s book appear to violate established medical fact… Hay has also been criticized for ‘blaming the victim’ by suggesting that AIDS sufferers are causing their own illness due to poor mental attitude. It is noteworthy that despite claiming for decades that positive attitude can defeat AIDS, she has not been able to demonstrate any examples of this happening.”
Author: Charles M. Sheldon
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 60 / 30 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: The title gives away the plot—a congregation asks themselves “What would Jesus do” before every action.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “[The sequel Jesus is Here’s] recurring phrase, used in description of Jesus, is: ‘Like an average man. Only different.’”
Author: Napoleon Hill
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 23 / 60 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: How to think and grow rich.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “While the book’s title and much of the text concerns increased income, the author insists that the philosophy taught in the book can help people succeed in any line of work, to do and be anything they can imagine.”
Author: Hal Lindsey, C. C. Carlson
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 56 / 35 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: A treatment of “literalist, premillennial, dispensational eschatology.” Translation: analyzes prophecies about the end times.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “Lindsey also predicted that the European Economic Community, which preceded the European Union, was destined (according to Biblical prophecy) to become a “United States of Europe”, which in turn he says is destined to become a “Revived Roman Empire” ruled by the Antichrist.”
Author: James Redfield
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 73 / 23 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: Discusses psychological and spiritual ideas rooted in ancient Eastern traditions.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “Redfield originally self-published The Celestine Prophecy, selling 100,000 copies out of the trunk of his Honda before Warner Books agreed to publish it.”
Author: Rick Warren
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 64 / 30 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: A blueprint for Christian living in the 21st century, with daily inspiration.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “NFL legend Ray Lewis gave the book to 23 time Olympic goal medalist Michael Phelps when he went to rehab. Phelps read the book daily while in rehab.”
Author: J. P. Donleavy
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 39 / 50 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: A novel describing sexual encounters that was originally banned in Ireland and America for obscenity.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “In his 1994 autobiography The History of The Ginger Man, Donleavy wrote, ‘I smashed my fist upon its green cover format, published as it was in the pseudonymous and pornographic Traveller’s Companion Series, and I declared aloud, ‘If it’s the last thing I ever do, I will avenge this book.’”
Author: Nikolai Ostrovsky
Bestseller Rank / Approximate Sales: 52 / 36.4 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: A fictionalized autobiography of the author’s life—in real life, the author fought with the Red Army and lost his right eye during the Russian Civil War.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “In China, the novel was adapted into a television series of the same title in 2000; all the members of the cast were from Ukraine.”
Author: Wayne Dyer
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 55 / 35 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: Self-help book with no plot summary, only a section for criticism and an accusation of plagiarism.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “Ellis admonishes Dyer for unethically and unprofessionally not giving Ellis credit as the book’s primary source, but expressed overall gratitude for Dyer’s work.”
Author: Ved Prakash Sharma
Bestseller Rank /Approximate Sales: 14 / 80 million
Summary of Wikipedia entry: Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia entry: “Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name”