Michelle Obama’s memoir, “Becoming”, is on track to be the best selling autobiography in history. The book, which was released in November 2018, chronicles Michelle’s childhood on Chicago’s South Side, her personal career, motherhood and her time in the White House with former president Barack Obama. It was published by Random House Penguin, a division of the German-based firm Bertelsmann.
Since its publication date, Becoming has sold nearly 10 million copies through print, digital and audiobooks globally. “That makes it our most notable creative success of last year,” Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe said during a recent news conference. The Obamas reportedly received a $60 million advance for Becoming and a memoir from the former president about his two terms in office, which is scheduled to release later this year. “We believe that these memoirs could well become the most successful memoir ever,” Rabe added. According to Nielsen, the former first lady’s book is listed 11th on the top 20 best-selling biographies and memoirs in the United Kingdom, where it has sold 618,000 copies to date. The island nation’s top-selling autobiography is A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer, which has sold 1.1 million copies. Becoming sold 725,000 copies the day it released and nearly 2 million copies in North America within two weeks. It broke numerous records, including being the best-selling book of 2018, despite releasing later in the year.
