Author Noam Chomsky's "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance" remained perched atop of Amazon.com's bestseller list, after its plug last week by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a fiery UN speech condemning US President George W. Bush.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shows a copy of "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance" by American philosopher Noam Chomsky during his address to the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 20 September 2006. Chomsky's book remained atop of Amazon.com's bestseller list, after its plug last week by Chavez. (AFP/Don Emmert)

The popular online company showed the 2003 book still as its biggest seller, after having claimed the top spot Friday following Chavez recommendation of it as "an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century ... and the greatest threat looming over our planet."

News reports said the book, published in 2003, leapt from 26,000 to number one following Chavez's headline-making speech in which he railed against US "imperialism," saying "the hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species."

"Hegemony or Survival" dislodged the earlier number one by New York Times columnist Frank Rich "The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina."

"I hate the guy. Forget about geopolitics," Rich joked Sunday speaking on US television, when asked about being bumped from the top book sales spot.

Chomsky, 77, told to the New York Times last week that he would be "happy to meet" Chavez.

A linguistics scholar and longtime critic of US foreign policy, he told the daily he is "quite interested" in Chavez's policies and finds many of his views "quite constructive."

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse

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