Publisher: Michelle Obama Memoir May Be History's Most Successful

Former first lady Michelle Obama (Frank Franklin II/AP)

By    |   Tuesday, 26 March 2019 09:38 PM EDT ET

Michelle Obama's smash book, "Becoming" might be the most successful memoir in history, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The former first lady's book has sold nearly 10 million copies around the world since its November release, publisher Penguin Random House said Tuesday.

"We believe this could be the most successful memoir in history," executive Thomas Rabe said in a statement to The Journal. Penguin's chief executive, Markus Dohle, added, "I'm not aware, in my personal experience with Penguin Random House, that we ever sold 10 million units of a memoir."

The book was an immediate success, climbing to No. 1 in the United States, Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom in its first 15 days. It sold two million copies in that time span to become the bestselling book of 2018.

Penguin paid $60 million in 2017 for the rights to the book as well as one by former President Barack Obama.

Michelle Obama's book explores her childhood, her work, motherhood and her time in the White House. She reveals difficulties in her marriage with Barack Obama and how the couple suffered a miscarriage.

She is in the middle of the second leg of her popular book tour.

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Michelle Obama's smash book "Becoming" might be the most successful memoir in history, according to the publisher to The Wall Street Journal.
michelle obama, first lady, penguin, becoming, memoir
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2019-38-26
Tuesday, 26 March 2019 09:38 PM
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