The book, by southerner Margaret Mitchell, was an immediate hit and sparked a literary frenzy. Within six months of its release, it had sold more than one million copies. The author even sold movie rights to the tale about a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction even before the book was released. Mitchell was paid an unprecedented $50,000 by MGM to make the novel into a movie.
The movie, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh also became a runaway hit, forever searing Rhett Butler's line (among others) into the American public memory: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"