I'm a bit sceptical about the survey itself.
For instance, I would have expected this kind of "patter recognition' or coy mistressing to include Stephen Hawking's
A Brief History of Time, said to be one of the most unread bought books of our time, yet the titles listed include only fiction. And I cannot believe that Joyce's
Ulysses is no longer in this category. (Perhaps BloomsDay put paid to this quality of Joyce's epic?) And no Mrs. Dalloway?
Was the poll limited to fiction? Who chose the titles that were included? And how many were included? Were 'write-ins' allowed? Where was Tolkien placed on the poll? What is the statistical reliability of the results and are any other polling demographics available?
Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if respondants were limited to males only.
EDIT: lol! cross posted with Mith. We both sniff some gender twisting here I think.
