Former President Barack ObamaB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淎 Promised LandB次元官网网址� sold nearly 890,000 copies in the U.S. and Canada in its first 24 hours, putting it on track to be the best selling presidential memoir in modern history.

The first-day sales, a record for Penguin Random House, includes pre-orders, e-books and audio.

B次元官网网址淲e are thrilled with the first day sales,B次元官网网址� said David Drake, publisher of the Penguin Random House imprint Crown. B次元官网网址淭hey reflect the widespread excitement that readers have for President ObamaB次元官网网址檚 highly anticipated and extraordinarily written book.B次元官网网址�

The only book by a former White House resident to come close to the early pace of B次元官网网址淎 Promised LandB次元官网网址� is the memoir by ObamaB次元官网网址檚 wife, Michelle Obama, whose B次元官网网址淏ecomingB次元官网网址� sold 725,000 copies in North America its first day and has topped 10 million worldwide since its release in 2018. B次元官网网址淏ecomingB次元官网网址� is still so in demand that Crown, which publishes both Obamas and reportedly paid around $60 million for their books, has yet to release a paperback.

As of midday Wednesday, B次元官网网址淎 Promised LandB次元官网网址� was No. 1 on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, said that the superstore chain easily sold more than 50,000 copies its first day and hoped to reach half a million within 10 days.

B次元官网网址淪o far it has been neck and neck with Michelle ObamaB次元官网网址檚 book,B次元官网网址� he said.

By comparison, Bill ClintonB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淢y LifeB次元官网网址� sold around 400,000 copies in North America its first day and George W. BushB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淒ecision PointsB次元官网网址� around 220,000, with sales for each memoir currently between 3.5 and 4 million copies. The fastest selling book in memory remains J.K. RowlingB次元官网网址檚 seventh and final Harry Potter novel, B次元官网网址淗arry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,B次元官网网址� which came out in 2007 and sold more than 8 million copies within 24 hours.

ObamaB次元官网网址檚 768-page memoir, which came out Tuesday and has a list price of $45, had unusually risky timing for a book of such importance to the author, to readers and to the publishing industry. It came out just two weeks after Election Day and could have been overshadowed had the race still been in doubt or perhaps unwanted by distressed Obama fans if President Donald Trump had defeated Democratic nominee Joe Biden. But Biden won and his victory likely renews interest in an era when he was ObamaB次元官网网址檚 trusted and popular vice-president.

My memoir, A Promised Land, is out today. I hope youB次元官网网址檒l read it. My goal was to give you some insight into the events and people that shaped me during the early years of my presidency. Most of all, I hope it inspires you to see yourself playing a role in shaping a better world.

B次元官网网址� Barack Obama (@BarackObama)

Obama himself acknowledges that he didnB次元官网网址檛 intend for the book, the first of two planned volumes, to arrive so close to a presidential election or to take nearly four years after he left the White House B次元官网网址� months longer than for B次元官网网址淢y LifeB次元官网网址� and two years longer than B次元官网网址淒ecision Points.B次元官网网址� In the introduction to B次元官网网址淎 Promised Land,B次元官网网址� dated August 2020, Obama writes that B次元官网网址渢he book kept growing in length and scopeB次元官网网址� as he found he needed more words than expected to capture a given moment B次元官网网址� a bind many authors well understand. He was also working under conditions he B次元官网网址渄idnB次元官网网址檛 fully anticipate,B次元官网网址� from the pandemic to the Black Lives Matters protests, to, B次元官网网址渕ost troubling of all,B次元官网网址� how the countryB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渄emocracy seems to be teetering on the brink of crisis.B次元官网网址�

Because of the pandemic, Obama will not go on the all-star arena tour Michelle Obama had for B次元官网网址淏ecoming.B次元官网网址� But he benefits from the attention of any memoir by a former president and by the special attention for Obama, who has the rare stature among politicians of writing his own books and for attracting as much or more attention for how he tells a story than for the story itself. Obama has already written two acclaimed, million-selling works, B次元官网网址淒reams from My FatherB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭he Audacity of Hope, which came out in 2006. His new book covers some of the same time period as his previous ones, while continuing his story through the first 2 1/2 years of his presidency and the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden by the Navy SEALS.

Publishers Weekly praised the book as B次元官网网址渟hot through with memorable turns of phrase,B次元官网网址� while other reviews were more qualified, calling the book all too reflective of ObamaB次元官网网址檚 thoughtful, even-handed style. The New York TimesB次元官网网址� Jennifer Szalai wrote that the B次元官网网址渕ost audacious thingB次元官网网址� about B次元官网网址淎 Promised LandB次元官网网址� is B次元官网网址渢he beaming portraitB次元官网网址� of Obama on the cover. The Washington PostB次元官网网址檚 Carlos Lozada noted that in B次元官网网址渄omestic policy and foreign affairs, in debates over culture and race, Obama splits differences, clings to the middle ground and trusts in process as much as principle.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚t turns out he is not a B次元官网网址榬evolutionary soulB次元官网网址� but a reformist one, B次元官网网址榗onservative in temperament if not in vision.B次元官网网址� Behind those dreams, the audacity and all that promise is a stubborn streak of moderation,B次元官网网址� Lozada wrote.

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ObamaB次元官网网址檚 book is the highlight of publishingB次元官网网址檚 holiday season and for some independent bookstores, the potential difference between remaining in business or closing. Publishing sales have been surprisingly stable during the pandemic, but much of the benefit has gone to Amazon.com as readers turned increasingly to online purchases. The American Booksellers Association, the independent sellersB次元官网网址� trade group, has warned that hundreds of stores could go out of business if holiday sales fall short.

Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books in St. Louis, anticipates selling around 1,000 copies by the end of the year, a number which makes B次元官网网址渁 HUGE differenceB次元官网网址� for annual revenues, she wrote in an email. Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan, said she sold around 600 copies in the first 24 hours, a pace exceeded only by the final Harry Potter book.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not hard to be a bright spot this year, a year when we would have gone out of business without federal aid,B次元官网网址� McNally said. B次元官网网址淏ut Obama does feel like a saviour, as do our customers for buying this from us.B次元官网网址�

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press

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