In brief
- Jacinda: The Untold Stories has now spent four consecutive weeks on the official nonfiction bestseller list.
- More than 250 retailers nationwide are stocking the book, with multiple reorders and strong sell-through.
- Alongside that success, some customers report cancelled orders, reduced stock, or difficulty accessing copies.
- Centrist says the issue raises broader questions about cultural gatekeeping beyond media and academia.
One of the quieter media stories of the past month has not been about Jacinda Ardern herself, but about the uneven path taken by a book written about her.
Jacinda: The Untold Stories, by veteran journalist David Cohen with Rebecca Keillor, has now spent four consecutive weeks on the official nonfiction bestseller list, making it one of the strongest-selling political titles of the year.
Strong demand across the country
That success has been consistent across much of the country. The first print run of 4,000 copies sold out within days. A second run is nearly gone. A third has just been delivered. More than 250 major chains and independent bookstores are now stocking the book, with some outlets already on their seventh reorder cycle.
Booksellers who have embraced the title report strong turnover. Many report triple-digit sales as copies fly off the shelves. Libraries are reporting heavy demand, with long waitlists forming soon after launch.
Critical reception has also been broader than many expected. RNZ described the book as “a serious work of reporting,” while The Listener said it filled gaps left by the former prime minister’s own memoir.
According to Stuff, the book takes an objective critique of the Ardern years and is an attempt to understand the individual.”
Reviews have come from across the political spectrum, including outlets not typically aligned with the book’s perceived audience.
Quiet anomalies in retail availability
Alongside that success, however, there have been a series of quieter anomalies.
Centrist Publishing has received multiple reports from customers and booksellers describing unusually small orders, cancelled stock requests, or difficulty locating copies in stores that technically list the book as available.
In one case, a store owner placed an order for 10 copies, only to have the number reduced to one before submission after a staffer deleted the “0”. In another, a full order was cancelled after internal debate, despite a sister branch of the same chain having already sold more than 100 copies. Some customers report being told the book was unavailable, even when it appeared in store inventory systems.
In a small number of cases, shoppers say staff openly expressed opposition to stocking the title at all.
None of these incidents, taken individually, would amount to much. Together, they have prompted questions about whether political or cultural preferences inside a small number of retail environments are influencing access to a bestselling book.
A broader question than one book
Publisher Tameem Barakat argues the issue is not unique to this title.
“New Zealanders are already alert to questions of bias in media and academia. Few expected to see similar dynamics play out in book retail,” he says. “When a book is selling strongly nationwide but remains oddly hard to find in certain locations, people start asking what else might be filtered, quietly, behind the scenes.”
The irony is that several independent stores that initially declined to stock the book later reversed their decision after reading it and discovered it was not the polemic they had assumed. By then, many had missed early sales, only to sell out repeatedly in recent weeks.
The book is now available globally through Amazon, where it has earned bestseller status, and remains widely available through Whitcoulls, The Warehouse, Paper Plus, Wheelers, many independent bookstores, and directly via centrist.nz.
