Why isn't (Insert Author X) more popular?

I always thought that Wambaugh was pretty popular, but yeah, his glory dayz were the 70's and 80's. The Choir Boys. The Onion Field. Etc. I can't remember the last book he wrote. Are The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight by Jimmy Breslin and Cops & Robbers by Donald E. Westlake still in print? There were lots of great books from that era. I guess i don't worry about them being available that much cuz the paperbacks are still plentiful for a quarter or whatever. At least in the States.

Plus, it seems like these days people go out of their way to find neglected authors and reissue long-forgotten gems. See: Dawn Powell, Charles Portis, Jim Thompson, Richard Yates.

Sorry, I'm rambling. Edward Dahlberg!! (although he wasn't a crowd-pleaser, more people should be able to get their hands on his two autobiographies. They are truly one of a kind. Both of them! I think New Directions used to put his stuff out. But I don't know about now.)

What about Aphra Behn? The answer to that one is Victorian sensibility, which was afraid that it might be offended by Ms Behn's often frank writing.

Nelly, I just recently read de Bernieres The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts and was laughing so hard in parts that I'd tears running down my face. I'm looking forward to his other two set in Latin/South America, but am not certain about Corelli's Mandolin - maybe 'cause I didn't like the TV ads for the movie (which I didn't see).

Also, there's a book out there called The Ventriloquist's Tale by Pauline Melville - an incredible read, though I've not read anything else she's published.