The victory of Donald Trump inspire fascism, repression or mass surveillance? That’s what the thousands of Americans who have rushed out to buy dystopian books in recent days seem to think. Indeed, this literary genre has been a big hit in Amazon sales, reports Associated Press .

Barnes & Noble, “fiction and nonfiction books that deal with fascism, feminism, dystopian worlds, and politics on both the right and left skyrocketed in our sales rankings with the election results.”says Shannon DeVito, the chain’s director of books. This phenomenon had already been observed during the Republican billionaire’s first election.

Among the most popular books, The Scarlet Handmaid by Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. This book, which has been adapted into a film and a series, is one of the great classics of its genre. It depicts a society in which women are repressed by the dictatorial regime in power. Most of them are sterile, but those who can still bear children, the Handmaids, are reduced to sex slaves.

Resistance guide

George Orwell’s darkly futuristic tale, 1984was also very popular. The book tells the story of how human beings are watched day and night by Big Brother, the dictator who enjoys a cult of personality, imposed by the Thought Police. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, which describes a world in which books are banned and must be burned, was also among Amazon’s bestsellers last Thursday.

A final book, published more recently, in 2017, is also selling very well: On Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Centuryby Timothy Snyder. Written in the aftermath of Trump’s first election, “this book presents itself as a guide to resistance, offering Americans – but also Europe – a brief catalog of ideas for preserving freedoms in the years ahead.”summarizes Gallimard, the book’s publisher.

Trump’s election has also boosted sales of books favorable to him. The memoirs of his wife, Melania Trump, Melaniaare an undeniable success. The new president promoted it during the campaign and in his speech on election day. Sales of the book by his right-hand man and vice-president, J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy – which tells the story of the poor, white America from which he came – are also soaring.