WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Hillary Clinton's memoir about losing the presidential election to Donald Trump sold 167,000 hardcover copies in the United States in its first week on sale.
The book's publisher Simon & Schuster said this outstanding sales volume gives 'What Happened' the biggest first week sales recorded by any author for a hardcover non-fiction title published since 2012.
Total sales of 'What Happened' in all formats (hardcover, ebook, CD and digital audio) were more than 300,000 copies, based on weekly data reported by NPD Bookscan.
Published on 12 September, the book was sold out like hot bread that Simon & Schuster had to reprint it three times, and there are a total of 800,000 copies of What Happened in print.
The book narrates Clinton's version of why she lost the presidential race.
The former First Lady reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in US history.
Clinton describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made; how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss; and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward.
She also lays out how the 2016 election was marked by an unprecedented assault on US democracy by Russia.
'What Happened' is poised to top the Sunday Times bestseller list this weekend, in the nonfiction hardcover category.
The book gave Simon & Schuster the best week of ebook sales for any nonfiction since the 2011 publication of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.
Carolyn Reidy, President & CEO of Simon & Schuster, said the remarkable response to 'What Happened' indicates that there is clearly an overwhelming desire among readers to learn about and experience, from Hillary Clinton's singular perspective, the historic events of the 2016 election.
What Happened has also been published simultaneously in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, and rights have been sold in several other countries for later publication.
What Happened is Clinton's third memoir. The others are Living History and Hard Choices, which was about her time as Secretary of State.
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