The recession has a peculiar effect on behavior. Consider the increase in booze sales or how haircuts get shorter in hard economic times. But thanks to Meghan Daum and her weekly column in the Los Angeles Times, I’ve just learned that the recession is also heating up sales of romance novels:

Amid the ceaseless reminders that the economy is in a persistent vegetative state, it’s easy to forget that some industries and products are thriving. U.S. News & World Report, which recently released its list of ‘œ10 Winners in the Recession,’ says that Hershey’s chocolate increased earnings by more than 50% last quarter and the Burpee seed company has said it expects sales to increase by 25% in 2009 (and this was before the first lady’s organic-gardening initiative).

McDonald’s same-store sales were up 6.8% last month (thanks, no doubt, to value meal menus that can provide an entire day’s worth of calories for a few dollars). Career development websites saw their traffic jump 20% from last year to this year, and resume editors are apparently doing a brisk business, especially when it comes to the healthcare, tourism and restaurant industries (finance, not so much).

But the most intriguing entry was the third item on U.S. News’ list: bodice-ripper novels. Harlequin, still the biggest name in serial romances, saw a $3-million gain, year to year, in North American sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 (by contrast, book sales in the general marketplace are down slightly).

Click over to get a read on this impulse and why Daum asks:

Isn’t ‘œthe quest for true love’ really just code for something else, namely the search for a sense of safety — financial and otherwise — in a precarious world?

With that said, what sort of ‘œescape fantasy’ are you employing in the economic downturn?

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