ABC's LOST reviving sales for obscure book

Seen briefly on the ABC hit series "Lost," a surreal comic novel by an Irish author who died 40 years ago has been rescued from obscurity... The novel, "The Third Policeman," was written by Flann O'Brien (1911-66), who was influenced by James Joyce, and fans of "Lost" are apparently scouring it for clues to the mysterious island where passengers from a downed airliner are marooned. Craig Wright, a supervising producer and scriptwriter for "Lost," said the book, seen on an episode first broadcast in the United States in October, was chosen "very specifically for a reason." Within two days of the broadcast, 10,000 copies were sold. "It's been amazing," said Chad Post, associate director of the Center for Book Culture at Illinois State University in Normal, publisher of O'Brien's books in the United States. "In three weeks, we sold 15,000 copies, the same number as we'd sold in the last six years.

http://