David Thayer

Over at Books Inq. there is a mention of another Amazon initiative, the Purchase Circle. According to Amazon there is a purchase circle for you no matter where you live, work, or play. The idea is to create specialized best sellers. If you live in New York there’s a book that contains lists of private nursery schools. That’s number one on the New York list. It’s a mini bestseller. Never mind Snake Pliskin, Escape from New York is number four and it’s a Frommer Guide. You can see the circle breaking down a little bit here; you finally got your kid into a private nursery school and now you want to leave town?

Some of the geographic circles seem a trifle large: Africa. Everyone in Africa from Morocco to Capetown will want to read the same books. I was expecting a little more focus like Cairo or Mombasa.

Unlike crop circles, purchase circles are not the work of an alien intelligence or rural jokesters with time on their hands. If you work for Oracle Corporation the thoughts of Larry Ellison are condensed into a book called Larry Ellison. Larry is a billionaire although he’s not in Bill Gate’s league nor is he reknown for philanthropy, but he is the boss at Oracle, and his employees and their loved ones will want to own that book in case Larry drops by.

Ultimately we all belong to Purchase Circles. You have to live somewhere. Amazon knows that and has ensnared all of us in this cat’s cradle. If you live in Africa and suffer male pattern baldness, you’re in luck. The mini-bestseller, Bald Guys in Africa, is available now.

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