In a piece in last week's New York magazine titled “Obamaism,” Kurt Andersen pointed out that Americans not only chose a historic candidate on November 4, they also chose “an extraordinarily fluent, subtle writer.” That fact hasn't, it seems, gone unnoticed by the general public. While Obama books sold briskly throughout the preelection period, they flew off shelves in the days after the ballots were cast. And no one's seeing a bigger bump than the “subtle writer” himself; Obama's two memoirs, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father, as well as his call to action, Change We Can Believe In (all published by Random House), have shot back up the bestseller charts—they're #2, #3 and #4 on PW's trade paper bestseller list this week.

Russell Perreault at Vintage Anchor, which publishes the mass market edition of Audacity of Hope, said that book sold “steadily” throughout the campaign, “then took off like a bullet” after Obama won. Here, a look at just how big a bump books by and about the junior senator from Illinois turned president-elect saw after Election Day.

Dreams from My Father(trade paper)Publisher: Three Rivers PressSales jump:291% (from 11,000 to 43,000)*Dreams from My Father
(hardcover)
Publisher: Crown
Sales jump:600% (from 1,000 to 7,000)
The Audacity of Hope
(trade paper)
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Sales jump:333% (from 9,000 to 39,000)
The Audacity of Hope
(mass market)
Publisher: Vintage/Anchor
Sales jump:250% (from 2,000 to 7,000)
The Audacity of Hope
(hardcover)
Publisher: Crown
Sales jump:300% (from 1,000 to 4,000)
Change We Can Believe In
(trade paper)
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Sales jump:533% (from 3,000 to 19,000)
The American Journey of Barack Obama
by the editors of Life magazine
Publisher: Little, Brown
Sales jump:300% (from 2,000 to 8,000)
The Faith of Barack Obama
by Stephen Mansfield
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Sales jump:600% (from less than 1,000 to 7,000)
The Rise of Barack Obama
by Pete Souza
Publisher: Triumph Books
Sales jump:400% (from less than 1,000 to 5,000)
Obama's Challenge
Robert Kuttner
Publisher: Chelsea Green
Sales jump:100% (from less than 1,000 to 2,000)
*All numbers reflect sales change as captured by Nielsen BookScan, from the week ending November 2 to the week ending November 9.