how successful the book had become

"Blake wondered what exactly it was that everyone had done to this author. He doesn't doubt people had don him wrong—he  just wonders exactly what it was. Had they ignored him his entire life? Had they shoved him against lockers, tripped him in the halls, offered high-fives with pushpins wedged between their fingers? Blake wished the man had been alive to know how successful the book had become, wished he could actually enjoy making people eat shit."

~~ from Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun by Jeff Chon