In the case of 'Goon Squad,' which sold slowly for a long time despite the good reviews, those 'best of 2010' lists were pivotal, and made the book really sell.
My mom died of cancer when I was really young. I'm not someone who tries to work out their own stuff with a role, but I think that happened despite my best efforts to keep myself separate from it.
On and on they went these nevers, but despite their random natures I found myself following almost every one. Perhaps because I never wanted to disappoint my father.
See the flower, how generously it distributes perfume and honey. When it's work is done, it falls away quietly. Try to be like the flower, unassuming despite all it's qualities.
Despite the generous rewards that state juries dole out, in many cases, victims receive less than 50 cents on the dollar in settlements with the lawyers taking the rest. This is not justice.
Despite its flaws, the American electoral system has produced Lincoln, the two Roosevelts, and Harry Truman.
The greatest presidents have been those who demonstrated astute judgment in times of crisis - often despite the advice they were getting.
I was 20 years old when, despite mass protests against military action, Iraq was invaded in 2003 - it didn't make for motivated political participation, I can tell you.
Leaders must pick causes they won't abandon easily, remain committed despite setbacks, and communicate their big ideas over and over again in every encounter.
The American people don't want Obamacare. It has been forced on the American people, despite the fact that Democrats no longer control the House.
The Japanese, despite the trade deficit and their ability to build fabulous automobiles, still think that a guy in a monster suit is all that is needed for a monster movie.
Having seen TED from a distance, I always thought if ever there was a place for someone like me, the outcasts, people who maintained who they are despite being told what they were, it was TED.
Despite countless prayers for Joseph to be safe, God said no. His plan remains a mystery. I have had to accept that mystery and trust Him in the dark.
I haven't had any plastic surgery - despite what people think, this is my nose. I have had Restylane and Botox, but I don't think of that as plastic surgery any more.
Spanish children are too often ill-cared for, but despite the abuses of ignorant motherhood and fatherhood, such vivid, vivacious, bewitching little people as they are!
Despite our high rate of unemployment, 300,000 jobs go unfilled largely because many of the unemployed lack the skills needed today as a result of technological progress.
Long before folks fretted the demise of 'quantitative easing,' I fretted its existence. It proved the reverse of its image, an antistimulus, and we've done okay not because of it, but despite it.
My kids are in front of the computer 24x7 despite having all the parental control. There is no way to stop the flow of information. The flow of information is too fast and too much.
It is possible to reclaim your future, to build a happy life despite an imperfect past. We can order the universe to our will and mind.
In the city, I wake bolt upright in the small hours, convinced that intruders are marauding through our apartment despite Swiss bank-style security arrangements.
The internal conditions in Iran are worsening in all aspects. Poverty and unemployment are becoming more severe, despite the fact that Iran has turned into a developed and industrialized country.
