Even in the reddest state in the nation, Bob Woodward's hard-hitting look at the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq is selling briskly.
The sales may not add significantly to the overall success of "State of Denial," since local stores' initial orders were small. Still, for a nonfiction look at politics, it's selling well, says Jennifer Nielsen at Sam Weller's. The store sold eight of its nine copies in the first two days.
Even the BYU Bookstore sold its three copies right away — "in the reddest county in the reddest state," noted an employee who asked to remain anonymous.
Chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders keep their sales numbers secret, so there's no way to know how the book is doing at their area stores.
"This is definitely a case where, in retrospect, we could kick ourselves," says The King's English manager Anne Holman about the store's initial order of only five books, all of which sold last Saturday, when the embargo on sales was lifted. "Sometimes the buzz on a book doesn't start till after you make your order." Like other stores, it will order more.
Nationally, "State of Denial" sits atop the best-seller lists of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, and the book is in its third printing.
Still, it's no Harry Potter. The King's English sold 500 of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" the first two hours it went on sale in July 2005. Maybe, says Holman, Woodward "needs to add some witches and warlocks."