Fans & Fanatics

From: Cracked ~ The 5 Greatest Books With Psychotic Fan Bases

I love these type of lists because they are not only fun to discuss but they also make you see the power of the written word, the good parts and the bad parts. For a quick run down here are their selections and why…

J. R. R. Tolkien ~ The Fellowship Of The Ring
Fanatics Involved: Neo-Nazis

J. D. Salinger ~ The Catcher In The Rye
Fanatics Involved: Celebrity Killers

Dr. Suess ~ Horton Hears A Who!
Fanatics Involved: The Anti-Abortion Crowd

John Fowles ~ The Collector
Fanatics Involved: Serial Killers

Vladimir Nabokov ~ Lolita
Fanatics Involved: Pedophiles

So that is Crack’s list but I could not stop there so here are some selections I would add to those first five while also trying to maintain the basic concept of the article…

Ayn Rand ~ Atlas Shrugged
Fanatics Involved: Republicans/Conservatives

They chose Tolkien I will go with Ayn Rand… She hated Conservatives and was far more Libertarian, if anything, so the only way I can explain why any Republican would keep attributing their point of view to Ayn Rand is they just do not get what she wrote. Maybe they think it’s cool because Rush sang songs based on her or something?

Andrew Macdonald ~ The Turner Diaries
Fanatics Involved: The Militia Movement/Teabaggers

They went Salinger and Celebrity Killers so I decided to literally shoot way off into the nightmare that is The Modern Militia Movement. Some people might say my choice is not a selection that qualifies as great literature and I say well, labels like “literature” are always debatable. I am sure someone out there would say this or that book is overrated as literature. So I am sticking with my choice here.

Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins ~ Left Behind
Fanatics Involved: End Times Preachers

Listen I simply cannot top Dr. Suess as a allegory for Anti-Abortionists so I will put this book on the list. Jerry Falwell claims “In terms of its impact on Christianity, it’s probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible.” That is a pretty big fanatical recommendation there.

L. Ron Hubbard ~ Dianetics
Fanatics Involved: Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, etc…

Cracked went off on some strange The Collector book I never heard of read by, it turns out, tons of Serial Killers. Imagine that! So I will go with the book probably on the tip of everyone’s tongue when they started reading this list.

Oh come on, admit it! Just because it was not meant to be read as fiction does not mean… Well, you get my drift.

John Norman ~ The Tarnsman Of Gor
Fanatics Involved: Goreans

They went for Lolita and strange Japanese school girl sex Manga and I give you Gor. I swear I would have never heard about either of these things until I got online. The wonders of the internet will never cease! So I think that this makes a good choice in my opinion for this position.

So feel free to add your selections in the comment area.

Tags: eBook Commentary