The Bestseller and the Formula of Success: Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code

What’s so common about j.k. rowling’s harry potter and dan brown’s da vinci code? they have been at the head of the sales lists, and a text that is at the head of sales is often criticized. it is taxed for its artificiality and superficiality as it applies recipes with the aim of appealing to as wide a public as possible. these recipes are quite simple: a hero with whom the public can identify, a hero who evolves in a manichean world. our research tackles the relationship between bestsellers and mass literature, and the formula that ensures the market success of these books, choosing as examples the harry potter series and dan brown’s the da vinci code.