Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics is proving popular in Rotorua. Photo / Stephen Parker
Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics is proving popular in Rotorua. Photo / Stephen Parker
It's the book that everyone is talking about - but Nicky Hager's controversial Dirty Politics is also the book everyone is buying, with many Rotorua stores selling out.
Thousands of copies have sold nationwide since it was released on August 14, with the entire first run of 4000 selling outwithin hours. After four days, more than 10,000 New Zealanders had their hands on a copy.
Hager's book, Dirty Politics: How attack politics is poisoning New Zealand's political environment, is based on thousands of emails revealing the extent of the relationship between blogger Cameron Slater and prominent National Party figures. It has attracted a huge amount of publicity in the last 10 days, and local booksellers say interest hasn't dropped since its release.
McLeods Booksellers has sold more than 40 copies, with another 10 on order. Co-owner Lynne Jones said she was surprised how well the book was selling. "There has been so much interest, it's quite amazing really. They [copies of the books] come in and go out within the same day," she said.
Staff at Paper Plus on Tutanekai St are having a similar experience. Its manager, Kirsty Evans, said the store had sold out, with about 50 copies bought. "At the moment we're waiting to get more stock, but it's been overwhelming," she said. "And it's not just attracting one age group, we've had people of all ages buy it, right from young ones who may be voting for the first time, to senior citizens."
Ms Evans said she believed interest in the book was unlikely to die down until after the election.
Meanwhile, Atlantis Books owner/manager Greg Price said the store had sold just one copy. "Maybe people think, since it's out in the media, they know what's in it and think it's not worth reading because of that. Usually books that have been heavily publicised don't have a great following," he said. Mr Price said the store had three copies of the book, and hoped sales would pick up soon.
