Nuzzi's Book Sold Just 1.2K Copies in First Week

Olivia Nuzzi's first book is making headlines less for what's inside it than for how few people are buying it. American Canto sold 1,165 hardcover copies in its debut week, according to NPD BookScan data reviewed by Politico, far below what publishing sources say had been anticipated for a buzzy first-time author with a high media profile. Forbes reports that the sales figures are similar to those of other recent books considered busts, including Sen. John Fetterman's Unfettered, which sold 2,600 copies in its first week.

The book, which chronicles Nuzzi's time covering American politics, has drawn harsh early reviews. The New York Times labeled it "self-serious and altogether disappointing," while the Washington Post said she "tries and fails to save her reputation in the book" and the New Yorker said it reads like "fanfiction about herself." A publishing industry insider tells Politico her perceived loss of credibility had made readers skeptical and described the rollout as a "publishing debacle of epic proportions," adding that expectations were closer to at least 5,000 hardcovers sold in week one. "The idea of her as a reliable narrator in telling any story, even hers, not many readers are going to believe that," the insider says.

The rocky launch has played out amid an unusually personal and public feud. Since Nuzzi began promoting the book, her former fiancé, journalist Ryan Lizza, has been publishing a multipart Substack series about her relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and alleged ethical misconduct. Nuzzi has denounced his writing as "harmful revenge porn," while Lizza contends she is deflecting responsibility for her own problems. Days after the book's release, Vanity Fair said it was parting ways with Nuzzi, named as its West Coast editor earlier this year.

Politico's industry source said the situation was mishandled at multiple levels, calling it "a disaster from start to finish." A person close to Nuzzi pushed back on that narrative, arguing the book had "a respectable first week" for a debut author, particularly given what they described as an "unprecedented and vengeful harassment campaign." Nuzzi herself told the New York Times last month that she is focused on the book's long-term reception, saying she would consider it "a very good outcome" if American Canto is valued decades from now and that she is "detached from the outcome" of its immediate performance.