The eight Oscar nominations of Hollywood blockbuster Brokeback Mountain has sparked a growing interest on two American cowboys' romance among Hong Kong readers, leaving empty bookshelves in many of the cosmopolitan's chain bookstores.

 

Sellout of the short story by US writer Annie Proulx was reported in many chain bookstores in Hong Kong, including Joint Publishing (HK) Co. Ltd., Commercial Press, Kelly & Walsh and PageOne Group.

 

Market analysts said the Brokeback Mountain heat in Hong Kong's book market is mainly bolstered by Taiwanese director Ang Lee in the film and the excellent performance from Health Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist in the movie.

 

The movie's recent leading eight nominations in Oscar awards, including best picture, best director and best actor, have helped the selling of the book, according to a spokeswoman for PageOne Group.

 

"Our daily business record on the book now is two to three times of the volumes before the Oscar nominations," the spokeswoman said Monday. "We have ordered more Brokeback Mountain stories from publishers."

 

Annie Proulx first published her short story Brokeback Mountain, the tale of two Wyoming cowboys whose romance has moved many movie goers to tears in The New Yorker magazine in 1997. It won an O'Henry prize and a National Magazine award in the United States.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)