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Sales of Africa books were down in 2002

Out of Africa has been continuously in print since 1937. In contrast to the majority of books published, some of which go out of print in as little as six months, certain classic books continue to sell year after year.

However, sales of Out of Africa and Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass dropped by nearly half in 2002 as compared to 2001. Sales of other Africa-related books, such as West with the Night and I Dreamed of Africa, also dropped. Sales are reflected in figures reported by Ingram Book Company, the primary wholesaler of books in the United States.

In 2001 Ingram sold 739 copies of the Modern Library version of Out of Africa (ISBN 0679600213). In 2002 only 471 copies were sold. In 2001, 1644 copies of Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass (ISBN 0679724753)  were sold vs. 890 in 2002.  Sales of West with the Night (ISBN 0865471185) by Beryl Markham (1942) were 4438 in 2001 vs. 3292 in 2002. I Dreamed of Africa (ISBN 0140287442) by Kuki Gallmann (1991) sold 1025 copies in 2001 vs. 428 in 2002.

Sales of other Dinesen materials were also down. The audio cassette Isak Dinesen Herself (ISBN 0945353316) sold 72 copies in 2001 vs. 30 copies in 2002. Seven Gothic Tales (ISBN 0679736417) sold 294 copies in 2001 vs. 201 copies in 2002.

The changes could be attributed to less travel to East Africa.