Sales of five classic dystopian novels jumped in the week ended January 25 at outlets that report sales to Circana BookScan.
In the week of the inauguration of President Donald Trump, sales of the trade paperback edition of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published by Simon & Schuster, hit #8 on our bestseller list after selling roughly 24,600 copies. The 148% increase over the week prior followed a 59% increase over the week ended January 11, as historic wildfires continued to tear through the city of Los Angeles.
Sales also spiked for the 75th anniversary editions of 1984 and Animal Farm, both written by George Orwell. Sales of 1984 jumped 192%, to about 19,500 copies sold, putting it 10th place on the bestseller list, while Animal Farm sales rose 136%, to over 17,000 copies sold.
Publisher Signet put out a special anniversary issue of 1984 last year, and had previously done a similar edition for Animal Farm. The publisher has not ramped up marketing on the two books, and Signet associate publisher Craig Burke said readers found the books on their own. “The increased interest in 1984 and Animal Farm has been organic,” Burke said, “with readers turning to Orwell’s classic novels to better understand current events.”
The fourth dystopian classic to see a significant sales increase was Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, published by Vintage. Sales jumped 223% for the book over the prior week, to just over 16,000 copies. A fifth novel, Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, which is published in trade paperback by Grand Central, sold just under 15,000 copies, marking a 118% increase over the prior week. (Parable of the Sower also saw a 90.4% increase during the week ended January 18, following the L.A. wildfires, which many compared to those featured in the book.)
The inauguration also gave a lift to Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, whose sales rose 471%, and Melania Trump’s Melania, which saw a 142% sales gain. Both books sold just over 14,000 copies each.