Michelle Obama’s memoir ‘Becoming’ sells 1.4M copies in a week

Michelle Obama’s new book “Becoming” has sold more than 1.4 million copies in all formats during the first week since it hit shelves on 13th of November.

On its first day, the book sold more than 725,000 copies, making it one of the year’s biggest debuts.

As being reported, “Becoming” is well exceeding the pace of previous memoirs by first ladies. Previously, Hillary Clinton’s “Living History” in 2003 had first week sales of around 600,000 copies.

According to publisher Penguin Random House, which announced the milestone on Wednesday. That the former first lady’s memoir about her Chicago roots and her time in the White House is also popular overseas, where it’s a bestseller in Europe and Scandinavia and the No. 1 adult nonfiction title in the U.K.

Based on demand from retailers across all channels, the publisher has printed 3 million hardcover copies in North America.

In the United Kingdom, “Becoming” is published by Viking and it had five press runs with a total of 575,000 copies in print.

In Holland, the Dutch-language edition is the best-selling book in the Netherlands, with the English-language edition ranked second.

The book has generated positive reviews, which traces Michelle Obama’s journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House. The Washington Post has praised it by terming the memoir, “impressive balance in telling the truth of her challenges while repeatedly acknowledging her lucky life.”

As being reported, former U.S president Barack Obama, is also working on finishing his own memoir. The rights of both books were acquired by Penguin Random House in a bidding war back in early 2017.