Trump’s victory renews interest in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and other fictional dystopias

NEW YORK – “The Handmaid’s Tale” is on sale again.

Ever since newly-elected President Donald Trump returned to the White House, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian classic about a country where women are brutally oppressed has been high on Amazon.com’s bestseller list. “The Handmaid’s Tale” was popular during Trump’s first term, along with dark, futuristic tales like George Orwell’s “1984” and Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” both of which were in the Amazon top 40 as of Thursday afternoon. Another bestseller from Trump’s previous term, Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” was in the top 10.

Pro-Trump books also sold well. Former first lady Melania Trump’s memoir “Melania” was No. 1 on Amazon’s list, and Vice President J.D. Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” was in the top 10. Donald Trump’s photo book “Save America” ​​was in the top 30 .

At Barnes & Noble, “fiction and nonfiction books about fascism, feminism, dystopian worlds and both right- and left-leaning politics increased in our sales with the election results,” said Shannon DeVito, the chain’s director of books. . She cited “Melania,” “On Tyranny” and Bob Woodward’s latest “War,” which explores Trump and President Joe Biden’s responses to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

DeVito also mentioned “a huge bump in dystopian fiction,” particularly for “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “1984.”