Oddly, I had never heard of Patterson. How is that possible given his apparent cultural dominance?
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_fiction...
If he writes in a genre you don't read, then it's not that surprising. Most men have never heard of Nora Roberts, who comes close to matching Patterson in sales.
For better or worse, I honestly think I just blank out these kinds of books. Still, I would have thought that the existence of a living author selling in the hundreds of millions would trickle down to me through one cultural tributary or another. Maybe through articles like this, through a blockbuster film adaptation, through word of mouth, etc.
But Patterson is formulaic. If it's not your formula, you won't notice. Other cultural tributaries are the book aisles in your local Walgreens/CVS, which are overflowing with Patterson. But, again, if you're not in that audience, you won't see it.
And if your attitude is "I blank out on these kinds of books", your friends will know, and they won't bother to inform you. (Or they have told you once or twice, and you blanked, and they stopped).
There is so much media content out there that unless you happen to be interested in a particular niche, you can miss pretty large events.
They're making an oddly specific claim
>Publishers Weekly has determined that he is the best-selling author of the past seventeen years.