Advertisement

Michelle Obama's 'Becoming' has sold ten million copies

FILE – In this Dec. 19, 2018 file photo, former first lady Michelle Obama responds to questions as she is interviewed by actress Sarah Jessica Parker during an appearance for her book, “Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama” (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
FILE – In this Dec. 19, 2018 file photo, former first lady Michelle Obama responds to questions as she is interviewed by actress Sarah Jessica Parker during an appearance for her book, “Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama” (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is on track to have the fastest selling memoir of all time, according to her publishers, Penguin Random House.

Since it was published in November, Becoming has sold ten million copies and has become an international sensation. On Tuesday, Thomas Rabe, chief executive of Penguin Random House’s parent company Bertelsmann, said he believed “that these memoirs could well become the most successful memoir ever.”

Obama’s book, and her husband’s yet to be published companion autobiography, already hold the record for the highest price paid for presidential memoirs. In 2017, Penguin Random House paid 65 million dollars for the pair.

Barack Obama’s favourite things, from The Carters’ ‘Apes***’ to his wife’s memoir ‘Becoming’

The book provides an intimate look into the life of a First Lady, as well as Obama’s relationship with her husband; in Becoming she revealed their fertility struggles and the sacrifices she made for his presidency.

According to Neilsen, Becoming is currently the 11th best selling autobiography since 1998 in the UK, behind books by Dawn French, Peter Kay, and her own husband Barack Obama. Anne Frank currently holds the all-time best-selling spot, with 35 million copies sold worldwide.

The book has become accompanied by a highly successful tour and press campaign, which will see her return to the UK in April to appear at the 20,000-seat O2 arena in London.