As far as inspirational stories go, this one is pretty good. Once upon a time--1989, to be exact--a pair of aspiring authors compiled a book of their favorite inspirational tales and poems. They grouped them according to topic and chose a catchy title. Then they hired a professional book agent to help them get their dream between hard covers. One major publisher after another turned them down cold, and after the 33rd rejection, their agent quit. Face it, they were told: "Parables don't sell." And that title! "Too nicey-nice." But the plucky authors soldiered on. Finally, in 1993, a small publishing house in Florida agreed to put out the book. "We think you can sell 20,000 copies," the publishers said.
Seven million copies later, the authors are living happily ever after. Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, hit the top of the best-seller lists in 1995 and spawned a series of sequels--Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul, for the Pet-Lover's Soul, for the Teenage Soul, for the Soul at Work, ad nauseam--that together have sold more than an astounding 28 million copies. (Suggestion for a new title: Chicken Soup for the Souls of 33 Publishers Who Really, Really Screwed Up.) The Chicken Soup product line is the publishing phenomenon of the decade. Last week five of the Top 10 slots on the Publishers Weekly paperback best-seller list were filled by Chicken Soup titles. Hansen and Canfield say they plan at least 30 more books over the next few years, and perhaps as many as 70, including ones for the prisoner's soul, the ocean lover's soul and the country soul. Nicey-nice sells.
"Our books go heart to heart, soul to soul, to the core being of a person," says Hansen. Each contains 101 stories ("That's a spiritual number," he says), and few of those last longer than three pages--perfect for attention spans ground down to nothing by TV. No one will mistake Chicken Soup for literature, and in case you miss the point, the cover blurb from Robin ("Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous") Leach is a clue that you're not buying Middlemarch. From book to book, the tone is unvarying: earnest, unadorned and ruthlessly uplifting. The stories are gathered under recurring rubrics--"On Love," "A Matter of Attitude," "Live Your Dream," "Learning to Love Yourself"--and deal with such universal themes as a mother's love, obstacles overcome, misunderstandings resolved, the cuteness of puppies and the boundless wisdom of children. The cumulative effect is overwhelming. Imagine a bath in strawberry shortcake. Imagine a meal of chocolate eclairs. With a Napoleon for dessert. And a milk-shake chaser.